Greek Chicken Fricassee

Greek Chicken Fricassee
PG tested

2 chicken quarters, about 2 1/2 pounds, bone-in, skinned, thighs and legs separated
1/2 cup (scant) olive oil
10 green onions, sliced
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 celery stocks, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 heads romaine lettuce, cut into 1-inch pieces For the avgolemono
3 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon cold water
Juice of 3 lemons

Put chicken pieces in a large saucepan and cover with water. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and brown the chicken. Add the green onions and cook until softened.

Transfer chicken and onions to a stew pot with the water, chicken broth, celery, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Add lettuce (it will look like too much lettuce at first, but don't worry; it will cook down), and bring to a boil again.

Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. When the chicken has cooked, turn off heat.

To make avgolemono: In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites with 1 tablespoon cold water and whisk until frothy. Then, whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice. Stir in 1 to 2 ladles of warm liquid from the chicken to the egg-lemon mixture. This step tempers the egg mixture and prevents it from curdling in the hot stew. Pour the egg-lemon sauce over the chicken and stir gently. Allow fricassee to sit covered on the stove for 15 minutes before serving. Serve over rice.
Serves 4.

-- Adapted from Nancy Gaifyllia's "Lamb Fricassee with Avgolemono" on about.com's Greek food blog
Thursday, March 24, 2011 By Lauren Wadowsky