Day 44: Avgolemono Soup

Sick days in our house always calls for some Avgolemono Soup which is a Greek soup with and egg lemon sauce. I know it sounds weird but it's absolutely fantastic and always makes me feel better whenever I'm under the weather. I also love to make it when my husband is sick because I always feel useless when my husband is sick and the meds aren't working.
To be honest, I don't know what happened to my husband. His stomach was bothering him but he was ok and then all of a sudden he started getting the shakes and then next thing you know he had a fever. The poor thing slept in a different room not to get me sick because I had a big day today. Luckily for me, I'm feeling fine, but my dear husband still has a fever. So, when I came home from work today I did the only thing left to do, make soup!
This soup is packed with fresh lemon juice, orzo, chicken, and a thicker broth than your normal chicken soup. It's typically in every Greek person's recipe book and normally their go to soup when they or someone is feeling ill. It's my absolute favorite and always gives me that boost to feel back to normal.
Luckily for me, my cousin is a pretty well known chef and has a cookbook out that I can go to when I am craving some true Greek food so this is my adaptation of his recipe. Enjoy!

*Ingredients
1 pack of chicken drumsticks
1 medium Vadalia onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 shallt, diced
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup white wine
3 sprigs of thyme
3 lemons
1 carrot, diced
1 leek
salt/pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
1 cup orzo
2 boxes low sodium chicken broth

-Avgolemono
3 large eggs, room temperature
4 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt/pepper

*Instructions
In a large sauce pot add your diced onion, carrot, leek, shallot, garlic, and olive oil. Let your vegetables cook for about 5 minutes. Add the bay leaf and thyme and then deglaze the pot with the white wine and cook until it completely evaporates.
Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken legs into the pot and pour the chicken broth in the pot, covering the chicken about two inches. Bring the pot to a boil, with heat on medium, let your pot cook for about 15-20 minutes; until chicken is cooked.
Using tongs, take out the chicken legs and place on a cutting board to cool. Once cool enough, reserve the meat from the bones. Discard what you can't use from the chicken legs and add the chicken back to the pot. Bring the soup back to a boil and add your orzo; cook for 8 minutes.
While the orzo is cooking make your avgolemono. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs until frothy. Add the lemon juice and then whisk again to ensure frothiness. Using your measuring cup, take two cups of fluid from your soup and SLOWLY add it to your eggs while whisking quickly. This will temper the eggs and make sure your eggs don't scramble. This is the most difficult part of the soup but it's crucial. Make sure all of your ingredients are in front of you ready to go so you're not frantic and are able to temper the eggs properly.
Once the eggs are tempered, add the egg mixture back to the pot with the rest of the soup. Stir to combine. Taste your soup and add seasoning as need be. Serve this soup hot and keep the lemon close by in case you want a little more lemon juice to top off your bowl. Enjoy!