Pork with leeks and celery avgolemono
This is a classic Greek dish. You can substitute the pork with lamb, beef or chicken and the leeks with lettuce, artichokes, chard, spinach, peas or wild greens (χόρτα).
Ingredients:
1 kilo boneless pork shoulder or leg, cut into big chunks
25g (1oz) butter
3 tbsp olive oil
2 shallot, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp flour
1 glass Greek white wine
850ml / 1 ½ pint warm chicken stock or water
3 medium leeks, washed, trimmed and cut into large pieces
4 celery sticks including the leaves, chopped into large pieces
½ bunch fresh dill, chopped
For the egg and lemon sauce:
3 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons
Dill, for decorating
Method:
Heat the butter and olive oil in a medium saucepan and fry the onions until soft (do not brown), mix in the meat, season with salt and pepper and cook together until lightly golden but not brown.
Sprinkle the flour and cook for a few minutes.
Pour in the wine, allow to come to the boil to cook the alcohol, add the hot stock to cover the meat, and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid, and simmer for 1 hour or until the pork has softened, then add the celery and leeks.
Simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Taste the sauce, adjust seasoning, and mix in the dill.
Remove the saucepan from the heat while you prepare the avgolemono sauce.
In a bowl or a large measurement jar, whisk the eggs whilst adding the lemon juice – I like to use an electric whisk. Take a ladle of the meat stock from the saucepan and add very slowly to the egg and lemon mixture, beating all the time.
Drizzle the egg and lemon mixture very slowly over the meat and place on a very low heat for a couple of minutes to cook the egg, shaking the saucepan constantly – do not allow the sauce to boil otherwise the egg ay curdle. Taste and adjust seasoning!
Remove from the heat and serve at once with a sprinkling of fresh dill and a nice thick slice of Greek village bread.
For a more substantial meal, you can also add three medium waxed potatoes, cut into quarters and place 25 minutes before the meat has finished cooking.