Waterzooie - Flemish Chicken Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 lbs chicken, cut serving pieces, with giblets
1/4 cup butter, softened
5 leeks, cut big chunks
5 celery ribs, cut big chunks
2 carrots, cut big chunks
2 onions, peeled (each stuck with 2 whole cloves)
6 parsley sprigs
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
10 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, juiced
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 lemon slices, paper-thin
2 tablespoons parsley, minced

Preparation

Rub the chicken pieces with butter, then broil, 4 to 5 inches away from the heat, for 20 minutes, turning often.
When lightly browned, put in a kettle with the giblets, and all the rest of the ingredients except for the lemon juice, egg yolks and cream. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or more (less for fryers), until the chicken is tender.
Remove chicken and giblets from the broth and cool. Discard the cheese cloth or aluminum foil packet.
Strain the broth and skim off the fat. (If you're not serving the soup immediately, you could put the broth in the freezer to make the skimming easier.) Return broth to kettle and stir in the lemon juice.
When ready to serve, cut the chicken in big chunks and mince the giblets. Remove bones and skin. Bring the broth to a simmer, then return the chicken and giblets to the broth. Heat through, covered, for 5 minutes.
When ready to serve, beat the eggs and cream together, then beat a cup of the simmering broth into the egg cream and whisk the whole mixture back into the kettle.
Rewarm at very low heat for a couple of minutes; don't bring to a boil or it will curdle! Ladle into deep souplates then float a thin lemon slice, sprinkled with parsley, in each one.
Serve hot.