Pork braised with celery, finished with egg and lemon
Serves 4About 80 minutesAbout 8 g net carbs per serving
Pork cooked slowly in a pot with celery, onion, leek and dill, and at the end the broth is thickened with beaten egg and lemon juice, the sauce Greeks call avgolemono. It is a traditional Greek stew for the cold months, autumn and winter.
You need
450 g pork loin or pork belly (1 pound), cut into medium chunks
280 g celery with its leaves (10 oz), trimmed, peeled and finely chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
120 ml Greek olive oil (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fennel
2 handfuls fresh dill
1.5 litres water (6 1/2 cups)
Salt and pepper
The juice of 2 lemons
2 eggs at room temperature
Contains: eggs.
Method
Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Brown the pork for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, then lift it out and keep it to one side.
Put the onion, leek and fennel in the same pot and cook them for 3 to 4 minutes, until they turn see-through. Add the dill.
Put the pork back in, pour in the water and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Cover the pot and cook it on low for 40 minutes.
Add the celery and cook 25 minutes more, until the pork is tender.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and the lemon juice together.
Take 1/4 cup of the hot broth from the pot and pour it into the eggs while you whisk fast. Then add more broth and whisk again.
Pour this egg sauce slowly into the pot and stir over medium heat until it thickens.
Popi says: Keep whisking while the hot broth goes into the eggs, and add it slowly, because that is what stops the sauce curdling. Squeeze the lemons yourself, never use bottled juice.
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