Get My Greek On

Clean and wash fowl and place in a large saucepan. Add boiling water, carrot, onion, and celery; cover and simmer gently over a low heat for 2 hours or until tender. Add the salt during the last hour of cooking. Remove chicken from stock.

Strain stock, bring to a boil and add rice. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and prepare egg and lemon sauce. Add to the soup gradually while stirring.

Cover the chick peas with warm water and leave overnight to soak.
Next day drain away the water and add the bicarbonate of soda.
After an hour rub peas well with hands to loosen the skins.
Rinse well and put them in a sucepan.
Add enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil, removing the scum.
Add the onions, cover and simmer for about 2 hours, or until tender, adding more hot water if necessary.
Add oil and salt to taste.
Simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with lemon juice.
Serves 4 to 5.

Wash liver, lungs and heart.
Wash the intestine and turn it inside out, using a pencil.
Rub it with salt and lemon juice and wash thoroughly.

Bring to a boil 7 cups water and put in the liver, lungs, heart and intestine.
As it begins to boil, remove scum which forms on top, add salt and simmer for 30 minutes.
Drain meat and cut into very small pieces.

Saute chives in the butter, in a saucepan, until soft.
Add chopped meat, dill, and pepper.
Cook, stirring for a few minutes.
Add the stock and simmer for 25 minutes.
20 minutes before serving time add rice.
Remove from heat and prepare egg and lemon sauce.
Add to soup, stir well and serve very hot.

Clean and wash the fish, salt and pepper it then drain.
Put enough water to boil the fish in a pot with onions, carrots and celery.
Bring to a boil.
Cook for 45 minutes, then add the fish and the oil.
When the fish had cooked, remove and lay on a platter.
Strain the broth through a colander and put it again in the pot.
Add enough rice (1 heaping tablespoon for each seerving) and stir with a fork.
When the rice has cooked, beat 2 eggs, slowly adding the juice of 1-2 lemons and some broth from the pot and pour the mixture in the pot, stirring constantly, over a low fire.
Remove the soup from the fire and serve.
Serve the fish separately.

Egg and lemon sauce is the most usual way for making a typical Greek soup.
To make the soup, use 2 or 3 eggs, or only the egg yolks.
The most sensitive part of an egg is the white, because heat cooks it much more rapidly than egg yolks.
To avoid this problem, work as follows:

Prepare a simple soup, Boil one whole chicken for broth.  Remove chicken and put to side.  Strain the broth. Add rice and Remove from the fire and let stand.
Squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons.
Beat the eggs in a bowl, slowly adding the lemon juice.
Take one ladleful of broth from the soup and add to the beaten eggs.
Beat well with a fork and gradually pour the mixture into the soup, stirring constantly.
If desired, add 1 tablespoon of flour to the beaten eggs.
The egg yolks can be beaten separately from the white, combining them afterwards to add to the soup, stirring all the while.

Wash the lentils and soak in warm water for 2 hours; drain.
Add 6 cups water, onion and garlic.
Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour.
Add olive oil, salt, bay leaf and vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes longer or until lentils are tender.

Wash the beans and soak overnight in cold water.
In the morning drain off the water, put in a saucepan with 8 cups of cold water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 1 hour.
Add remaining ingredients and cook gently for about an hour or until the beans and vegetables are tender.

Wash and cover peas and cold water; bring to a boil, add one onion quartered and simmer for about an hour or until soft.
Rub through a sieve, add salt and 4 tablespoons oil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
Serve on plates and sprinkle with finely chopped onion, lemon juice and remaining oil.

Put 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and the salt in a pot of water.
Bring to a boil and add the shrimp.
Let boil for 8 minutes, if they are small, 12 minutes is large.
Remove from the fire and let cool in their own water.
Clean the shrimp and remove their tails.
Pound the heads in a mortar.
Put the pulp in a pot with shrimp broth to boil, then strain through a sieve.
Put a pot containing 4 tablespoons of butter on the fire.
Slice 1 leek, 1 to 2 carrots and a little celery, wash, then add to the pot, stirring with a wooden spoon, until well browned.
Add the flour.
Still stirring, add the shrimp broth and let boil about 15 minutes.
Strain through a sieve into another pot.
Bring again to a boil and add thickened flour, beaten egg yolk.
Add 1/4 cup of the wine and a little pepper.
Cut the tails in small pieces and add them to the soup along with the mussels.
If desired, add croutons.
Serve hot.