Celery with Egg and Lemon

This recipe is for my mate Jen - she's after new recipes for her celery glut. This is an old greek recipe that combines the wonderful flavour of celery with the traditional flavours of whipped egg and tangy lemon. Anyone who has tried the greek take on chicken soup or their famous meatballs will recognise this wonderful combination.

Ingredients

6 lamb chops or shanks (be aware that cooking times will differ between the two cuts)
A bunch of celery
4 eggs
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method

1. Boil your meat until tender. For chops this will take about 1 hour, shanks will take at least 2 hours of cooking
2. Whilst the meat is cooking, destring the celery and chop it into 3 inch pieces
3. Once the meat is tender and the water it has cooked in has reduced, add the celery and simmer for half an hour. It is important to reduce the water content before adding the celery as there is a high water content in this vegetable that will be released back into the cooking pot as it simmers. Once the celery is cooked, turn the heat off
4. Seperate your eggs and beat the egg whites with electric beaters on a HIGH speed until soft peaks form. Now turn the speed down to MEDIUM and add the yolks. Once they have combined, turn the beaters down lower still and add the lemon juice at a SLOW speed. It is important to maintain the correct speeds when mixing these 3 ingredients or they will curdle when the lemon is added
5. Now, still at a SLOW speed, add approximately 500ml - 1lt of the hot liquid from the meat and celery to the egg and lemon mix. You will need to add this as slowly as possible so as not to cook the eggs. This results in scrambled eggs and is nowhere near as appetising as it should be - although it still tastes the same. Once some of the hot liquid has been added to the egg mix, you can safely pour this entire mixture back in with the meat and celery. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon
6. Serve this immediately with some good, homemade crusty bread