Winter

Hoirino me selino avgolemono ............
or as you would know it, pork with celery in an egg and lemon sauce.  A perfect filling and warming dish on a cold and very damp winter's day. 

  We have hardly seen the sun in days.  Up in Thessaloniki the airport has been closed because of fog.   The sun when it does fleetingly appear is weak and watery.  It rained briefly last night but not enough to clear the atmosphere and let the sun come through.

It is in these damp winter days when the steep flights of steps in the old town green turn green,  slippery and treacherous.  Our front yard sees little sun in the winter and the stones are dark grey and water sodden.

In the older part of the house which is not insulated we have a dehumidifier working long hours on these sunless days, removing moisture from the air so the walls don't go mouldy.
  

Pork and celery is definitely a winter dish.  We don't find such luscious celery in the the summer.  We often cook it on New Years day, as my m-in-law used to.  It is very popular amongst the traditional people of the family.  I don't particularly like boiled celery, and neither does my younger brother.  It was one of the vegetables my mother loved and we often found it on our plates when we were young.    Even today poor old Uncle T  still cannot stomach it.  I prefer red lentil curry which is cooking in the other pot today.

You could make this with lettuce or other greens and sometimes I do but the meat then is usually lamb.

Pork and celery  - simple to prepare.  A one pot meal

Some prepare the pork and celery separately but I boil them together and it comes out just as it should and is eaten with relish by traditonal people.

Ingredients -
- half a kilo of pork cut into large chunks
- large bunch of leafy celery or an even larger bunch of selino (the greek celery which looks like parsley)
- 1 chopped onion
-  chopped garlic
-  a wine glass of olive oil
- salt and pepper

For the sauce -
- one egg
- juice of a lemon

What was left of a large bunch of celery.  All the leafy green top parts are in the pot

Boiling it all up

Brown the pork pieces, onion and garlic for a few minutes.  Add boiling water and cook slowly for about 45 minutes.  Cut the stalks of the celery into small chunks and the leafy green part into large pieces and add to the pork.  Add some more hot water.  Stir the greens into the liquid and come back again and again to make sure they are covered in sauce. Add salt and pepper.

Celery needs quite a long cooking.  I stewed the meat and celery slowly for about an hour before the stalks were nice and soft.  Do add lots of celery.  Don't be afraid, it boils down like spinach.

As soon as you thnk it is ready then take it off the heat and quickly make the egg and lemon sauce which will raise the taste up a few notches, unless you heartedly dislike boiled celery.

Sauce -
In a biggish bowl beat one egg with a fork.  Add the juice of one or two lemons, it all depends on your taste.
Beat the egg and lemon juice together till very well combined.

Make sure the pork and celery has at least one big ladleful of juice.  If necessary add a little more water.

Add a ladleful of juice from the pork to the egg and lemon stirring it quickly as you do.  It can be done by one person but if you're a newby to egg and lemon sauce have one person pouring the hot liquid and one person stirring.  You don't want the egg to overheat and cook.  Add another ladleful and then pour it all back into the pot with the pork and celery.  Do make sure the pot is not boiling and do not reboil.  When reheating do it very slowly on a low heat.

The half finished plate with a couple of pieces of bread in the middle of it all to soak up the sauce

Serve with feta cheese, olives, thick bread and several glasses of wine

If you like boiled celery, well, kali orexi 

Eat up!

This time last year we were building a snowman