Greek Lemon Chicken

I'd always thought that this dish, which I found in an Australian Woman's Weekly cookery book, would be the one I'd post on my blog first.  It's light, full of flavour and soupy enough to be comfort food.  I can't find the book, but luckily I have committed the recipe to memory having made it many times.  The drawback to committing this to the page is that I can't remember the quantities, generally cook by eye (or the slack 'andful as Mum would say), rather than weight and measure and almost always only for myself.  The 'usual' Greek lemon chicken dishes that come up on searches are nothing like this one, and I've never seen anything similar in a restaurant, so I can't vouch for its authenticity.  I can vouch for its being heavenly.

The recipe:

1 skinless, chicken breast cut into small pieces per person
2-3 carrots, cut into julienne strips
3-4 sticks of celery, cut into strips
1/2 onion, chopped fine
a few celery leaves
1 lemon
hot stock
cayenne pepper
whole garlic cloves (optional)
olive oil

1.  Cook the chicken in olive oil in a heavy-based pan or casserole dish.
2.  When it has coloured remove it with a slotted spoon and wrap in kitchn paper to absorb some of the oil.
3.  Add the onion to the pan. Once softened, add the carrot and when that too is softening, add the celery. If the ingredients start to stick, add some of the stock.
4.  Carefully pare the peel from the lemon into thin strips, then add to the stock to infuse.
5.  Juice the lemon and add to the stock  You might not need all the juice, depending on your taste. Add a few pinches of cayenne pepper.
6.  Slowly add stock to the pan, then add the chicken.
7.  Although it's not in the original recipe, I like to soften whole, peeled cloves of garlic in the stock.
8.  Cover for a few minutes until all the ingredients are softening but not soggy. You may need to add more water.
9.  Serve on top of rice or couscous. Sprinkle a  few celery leaves on top of each plate or bowl to garnish.

I'm the slowest cook in the world so I won't even hazard a guess at how long this takes to make.  After doing the prep, putting it together doesn't take long at all. And how long you leave it to simmer is down to taste.  This dish is even better the next day when all the flavours have melded together. 
I have made this without the chicken. I may try it with mushrooms (which go well with lemon) or lamb (which might be too heavy) for a change.

Kali oreksi!