Artichokes and peas in an egg-lemon sauce (Αγκινάρες με αρακά αυγολέμονο)

October 2, 2019January 7, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 3 Comments

A stew of artichokes, peas and potatoes in a rich and tangy egg lemon broth

This recipe is pretty intense. Not in preparation; you’ll see that it’s no more difficult than many of the other recipes we’ve posted. No…it’s intense in the feelings and thoughts it elicits. Some good; this dish is delicious and today we love to eat it. But some, less good; when we were kids we thought it looked and tasted like throw up, and cried when it was for dinner.

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Yiouverlakia avgolemono and tomato (Γιουβαρλάκια αυγολέμονο με ντομάτα)

April 19, 2018January 26, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 14 Comments

We don’t know about you, but we’re supposed to be having spring like weather here in Canada. It seems that someone didn’t get the message. In the span of a few hours this afternoon we experienced a tiny bit of sun, snow, hail and rain. What ever happened to April showers bringing May flowers? Hail is not showers!

Since we can’t control the weather (we have tried, promise!), we can at least control how we live with it. Our winter coats are still accessible, as are our boots and hats. We’ve kept the salt out for de-icing the driveway and our beds are still incredible cozy with our woollen blankets and duvets. And in the kitchen, we’ve been leaning towards winter weather food, comforting for body and soul…like this deliciously soothing yiouverlakia soup flavoured with avgolemono and tomato. Bring it on April…we can take you! Actually, we’re just kidding…we can hardly take this anymore! We are dreaming of spring, and salads!

Yiouvarlakia with avgolemono (Γιουβαρλάκια αβγολέμονο)

February 8, 2018January 26, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 11 Comments

Meatballs with rice served in an egg lemon (avgolemono) sauce.

A few months ago, while we were scrolling through Pinterest, we came across recipes for porcupine meatballs. Intrigued, and slightly horrified, we investigated and were pleased to discover that these are not made of porcupine meat. In fact, porcupine meatballs are just regular meatballs with rice added to the mix; because the rice kind of pokes out of the cooked meatballs, they appear prickly, like porcupines. Cute. We grew up with something kind of similar, although the Greek version doesn’t have such a silly name; in Greek households they are called yiouvarlakia.

Pork and celery with egg lemon sauce (Χοιρινό με σέλινο αυγολέμονο)

September 21, 2017January 26, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 10 Comments

Pork and celery with egg lemon sauce is a luxurious traditional Greek recipe

It’s not often that a two-bit character actor is cast in a leading role. It’s rare for a back-up singer to move center stage, and win a Grammy. It’s unusual for a second-string quarterback to somehow lead the league in touchdown passes. And it’s surprising that a plain Jane vegetable, which is usually part of a basic trio (think: saute onion, garlic and celery…), becomes the focus of an entire, decadent meal. But this is a celery Cinderella story, and we’re here to tell it.

Cabbage rolls with egg-lemon sauce (Λαχανοντολμάδες με αυγολέμονο)

May 18, 2017January 26, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 7 Comments

Greek cabbage rolls with egg-lemon sauce are filled with rice, meat and herbs and are topped with avgolemono.

This recipe is an example of us taking one for the team. You, dear readers, are our team. That’s right…you. Have we told you lately how happy we are to have you on our team? How happy, and thankful, we are that you have discovered Mia Kouppa?! And this recipe, it’s our thanks to you. We know that many people love Greek-style cabbage rolls with egg-lemon sauce, so how could we possibly deny you this recipe, despite the fact that we ~~hate~~ don’t like them? Keeping this recipe from you would not make us team players. We are better than that (usually).

When we suggested to our parents that one day they show us how to make cabbage rolls with egg-lemon sauce, they both got a little cabbage-twinkle in their eyes. It had been years, closer to never, since we had requested this recipe. There was just something ugh about cooked cabbage. So, as soon as we uttered this suggestion, the necessary ingredients were being pulled out of fridge and pantry, and aprons were being tied around waists. That day, our parents happened to have not one, but two, heads of cabbage in the refrigerator. Doesn’t everyone? What began as a simple, thought-for-the-future, quickly became supper, and this post. It was all very serendipitous, and very, very emotional. With our meal complete, we settled down to taste these cabbage rolls (how else to write about them?). Suddenly, they became our long lost loves. Where had these rolls been all these years? They are truly, shockingly, delicious. No…more than delicious. They are kind of phenomenal. The combination of the cabbage and the egg-lemon sauce gives a gift of tart sweetness which is hard to describe, but very easy to enjoy. Thanks team!

Avgolemono (egg and lemon) soup with chicken/ (Σούπα αυγολέμονο με κοτόπουλο)

January 19, 2017January 26, 2022 ~ miakouppa ~ 18 Comments

Avgolemono (egg and lemon) soup with chicken, is a classic Greek chicken soup made with rice and a rich egg-lemon sauce.

We love this soup. We love making it today, and we love reminiscing about how much fun it was to help our parents make it when we were young. It is relatively simple and in terms of active cooking time, this soup doesn’t require much; there is a lot of waiting around. Waiting for the chicken to boil and for the stock to be made. Then there is the waiting for the rice to cook. One of the key steps however is preparing the egg and lemon mixture, the avgolemono. This is what transforms a plain rice soup into a Greek classic.