Chicken with artichokes and egg and lemon sauce

CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES AND EGG AND LEMON SAUCE

(fricassee in Greek)

Buy a free range rooster, because it tastes better.

The roosters are usually 3.5 to 4 kg each.

Use the half of it. Chill the rest to use it another time.

Ingredients

2kg of free range rooster

1 tbsp coriander grains

2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves

1 tablespoon black pepper grains
1 bunch of dill
Salt to taste 

1 medium potato

15 artichokes peeled

100 g. olive oil

2 large eggs

The juice of 2 large lemons

Instructions

Rinse thoroughly the cock and then put it in a pot.

Pour water into the pot until it reaches 5 cm above the meat.

Place the pot over high heat.

Shortly before the meat boils, foam apears on the water surface.

Gather with a soup ladle the foam and toss it.

Let the rooster to cook briefly over high heat.

Then reduce the heat to medium.

Put in the pot salt, coriander, rosemary and pepper grains.

Leave the meat to cook for an hour.

Nail a long fork into the meat.

If this fork goes easily into the meat, the meat is boiled.

But if the meat presents resistance and fork can’t go inτο ιt easily, the meet needs more boiling.

When the meat is ready, take the rooster with a slotted spoon off the pot and put it into a pan.

Put a little salt over the meat to improve its taste and let it cool.

Leave aside also the meat broth to cool.

Scour the roosters. Put the meat on a platter. Discard the bones, all the fat, the skin and the tendons.
Cover the cleaned meet of the rooster and leave it aside.

If you are going to use frozen artichokes, they do not need anh cleaning because they are already well cleaned.

If you are going to use fresh artichokes, you must clean them first.

In each artichoke plunk outer green leaves and take them out.

Continue this way until you discover the yellowish inner leaves.

If the inner leaves are tender, then cut out only the barbed top and toss it. 

Put the lower part of the yellowish leaves in the food because when cooked they are delicious.

Cut each artichoke in half with a sharp knife. 
With the same knife remove the hairy leaves that cover the heart of it.

Cut each cleaned piece in half again. Thus each artichoke is cut in 4 pieces.

Put the cleaned artichokes in a bowl with water.

Put in the water with the artichokes, the juice of one lemon.

The lemon juice prevents the artichokes color from turning dark.

Strain with a colander the meat broth in a pot.

Put the pot with the broth in the freezer.

Leave it there to cool.

When the broth is cooled, the fat of the meat forms a white layer which floats on it.

Take the pot with the broth from the freezer.

With a ladle collect the fat that floats on the broth and toss it.

Let the broth aside to use it later.

Put in another pot the olive oil and place the pot over medium heat.

When the oil warms up put the potato diced into the pot.

Stir the potato pieces some times and then add the artichokes.

Lower the heat and let the artichokes to sauté.

Put the cleaned chicken meat into the artichokes.

Stir sometimes and let it cook for a few min to get flavor from the rest ingredients.
Clean the dill.  Use only the leaves. Wash then well and cut them with sessors in small pieces.
Put the pieces of dill into the pot with the artichokes.

Pour into the artichokes broth until it covers all the ingredients.

Increase the heat from medium to high.

Wait for the food to boil.

Once the boiling starts, lower the heat again to medium and cover the pot with its lid.

Let artichokes, potato and meat to boil for 15 minutes.

Peg a fork in an artichoke and see if it has softened.

When every thing is soft and tender it is time to make the egg and lemon sauce. 

Egg and lemon sauce

Squeeze the lemons.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with a Wisk for 2 min.

Without stopping the beating, pour the lemon juice little by little into the bowl.

With a deep soup ladle take boiling broth from the pot and pour it little by little into the bowl with the eggs. With the Wisk contine the beating of the mixture in the bowl. 

Repeat this step two more times.
All together you should put 3 soupe ladles boiling broth from the pot into the bowl.

Remove the pot from the heat.

Pour the egg and lemon sauce into the pot and stir gently.

Let food to cool for 15 min. The food needs this time for the flavors of all the ingredients to mix.

This dish is served lukewarm.