Recipe: Slow-Cooker Greek Lemon and Egg Wild Turkey Soup

What came first, the turkey or the egg? Why does it matter when you can use both in a traditional Mediterranean-style soup?

Greek lemon and egg soup is traditionally made from chicken, but is extremely good made from wild turkey. If the Greek’s had wild turkey, I’m sure this would’ve been a favorite. The soup, in Greek, is known as “avgolemono”, and in this case, is a delicious blend of turkey leg and thigh meat, with a soup broth created by simmering them for an extended period of time. Adding orzo or rice, freshly squeezed lemon and egg, make it rich, flavorful and creamy. This is a quick and easy way to make an old-country classic with little effort. And, it will provide another reason to save those turkey legs and thighs off any wild bird you can get your hands on.

Instructions How to Prepare the Leg and Thigh and Make Turkey Stock
Add the wild turkey legs and thighs to the slow cooker with enough water to cover them completely. Turn on high and cook until the meat falls off the bone. A young bird will take 5-6 hours and an old gobbler will take 7 to 8 hours. I often do multiple legs at a time. The bones can be removed and the meat can be shredded to be added to the soup. Additional meat can be used for other recipes. The incredibly rich broth produced from simmering the turkey for an extended period will be used as your soup base, so make sure you run it through a sieve to get a minimum of 4 cups of clear broth.

Ingredients for Soup
• 1 wild turkey leg and thigh simmered, and deboned
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped finely
• 1 large stalk celery, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 cups homemade turkey stock (add extra water if needed to make a full 6 cups)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¾ cup dry white rice or orzo
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (usually juice from 1 large fresh lemon)
• 3 eggs

Instructions
1. Place the turkey meat, onion, celery, garlic, stock, water, salt and pepper in your slow cooker. Cook about 1 hour on high, until broth is simmering. Add the orzo or white rice and cook for 20 minutes on low.

2. Separate egg whites and retain yokes for later. Place the egg whites in a medium bowl and beat until peaks start to form. Whisk in the lemon juice and egg yolks. Slowly whisk 1 cup of hot soup broth to the eggs to temper them and prevent them from cooking instantly, by adding the hot broth in a slow, steady stream while whisking constantly. After all the stock has been added, slowly stir the egg-­lemon mixture to the soup. You don’t want to rush this step, or your egg mixture can curdle. Beat the eggs well and bring them up to a hot temperature before adding to the soup. Turn the soup off or to low when adding the eggs to make mixing easier.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. The soup can be garnished with fresh dill or parsley and a slice of lemon can be added. Serve, and enjoy!