Greek for dinner anyone?

A couple of nights ago I've decided to start my first "global" dish by attempting to make Greek Fricassee; a stew-like dish made with chunks of white meat and vegies (chopped lettuce), mixed with avgolemono sauce (a mixture of egg and lemon, beaten together until it becomes a thick sauce). The recipe that I've found online suggested that I should use lamb as the protein, but after digging around the net a bit more, I've found that pork is also a great substitute, not to mention $4 per/lb cheaper than lamb.

First thing first though; the much needed ingredients and directions on how to make this dish:

Ingredients:

• salt
• black peppers
• 2 lbs of pork
• two eggs
• 1 lemon
• onion
• garlic
• butter
• 1 large head of romaine lettuce

Directions:

The directions that I found online were too straight forward to the point that thought to myself that I might be missing something. I will go through the process step by step with some modifications to make it clear for you guys.

1.  Cut the pork into small even cubes, then heat the pot in preparation for the butter, garlic, and onions.
2. Stir the garlic and onion in the butter mixture until they are semi-brown, then add the pork and cook the it until it turns slightly brown as well.
3. Add a little bit of salt and pepper to make sure that the meat will be well seasoned
4. Add a little bit of water, or in my cased, I added a little bit or red wine to add a little bit of additional flavor.
5. Add onions to the pot and turn the heat down to medium low and let everything simmer for about 35 mins.
6. Prepare the avgolemono sauce by beating 2 eggs until they are thick and creamy, add the lemon juice to the egg mixture and continue to whisk away until the consistency is that of gravy.
7. Add the chopped lettuce into the pot after 35 mins, along with the avgolemono sauce, mix and stir until the lettuce is slightly soft (about 3 mins). You're ready to served.

This is a fairly simple recipe, but some of the things that I realized after cooking the dish that is worth sharing is the fact that you should strain away all the grease after searing the pork. I've neglected to do this so my stew is very greasy and rich in texture; not what I wanted. Also, next time I will definitely add potatoes, carrots, and other vegies to really make it like a stew that I would normally make. I ended up straining out all broth today, added some vinegar and soy sauce to converted the dish to classic "pork adobo". The sharpness of the vinegar really complements the richness of the pork quite well :).

I guess what I took away from this whole experience is the fact that there is no right or wrong in cooking, as long as you understand what it is that you need to do to improve on the dish the next time you cook it. Also, there is no such thing a dish gone bad; you must learn to be flexible when experimenting with new foods. Words to live by when trying to be frugal and eat well at the same time.

The total amount spent on making this dish is about $10, and would last a person about 1 day for both lunch and dinner.