TRADITIONAL LAMB FRICASSéE WITH AVGOLEMONO SAUCE

Traditional Lamb Fricassée with Avgolemono Sauce image

A lovely Spring dish with succulent lamb, tender greens and a creamy avgolemono sauce!

Provided by Marilena Leavitt

Time 1h40m

Yield 6

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

3 lbs. of boneless leg of lamb
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium leek, sliced
10 scallions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, with their leaves, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 heads of lettuce, (Little Gem or Romaine), coarsely chopped
a bunch of fresh dill, chopped
For the Avgolemono Sauce:
3 medium eggs, separated
--- juice of 2 medium lemons
1 Tbsp. cold water
½ tsp. corn flour

Steps:

Trim most of the visible fat from the lamb then cut the meat into 1½" - 2" chunks. Pat down the lamb to remove any excess moisture then brown it on all sides over medium-high heat in the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
Add the leeks, onions, and celery to the pot and sauté until the vegetables soften. Add the chicken stock to cover the mixture and season it generously with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 40 minutes.
Mince the dill, reserving some for garnish. Chop the lettuce and add it to the pot, along with the dill. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or, until the lamb is fork-tender and a small amount of liquid (about a cup or so) remains in the pot. Turn off the heat.
Prepare the egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce. In a small bowl whisk the egg whites with the teaspoon of cold water and a little corn flour until very frothy. Whisk in the egg yolks and lemon juice (start with only one lemon if you do not like the acidity of the lemon too much). Temper the avgolemono sauce by slowly adding one ladleful of the hot liquid from the pot to the small bowl with the eggs, while whisking the whole time. Continue with a second ladleful of the hot liquid and whisk again. Now add the avgolemono to the pot and stir gently to incorporate. Shake the pot a few times to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed together.
If you need to reheat the lamb fricassée before serving, do so very gently, making sure the stew does not come to a boil. Place on a serving platter, topped with the reserved minced dill, a drizzle of olive oil and a few wedges of lemon. Good, crusty bread is a must and a Greek salad on the side is always a good idea.