Greek Easter Soup with Avgolemeno Sauce

1/2 chicken, cut up
3 cups water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 scallions, finely chopped
5 cups water or chicken consommé
1/2 cup fresh dill
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup rice
Salt and pepper

Boil chicken in the 3 cups water for 50 minutes. Remove from heat; strain broth and set aside. Chopchicken into pieces.
Cook onion, dill and parsley in butter with 1 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper until soft andtransparent, being careful not to brown. Add chopped chicken and cook over moderate heat for about5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken broth and enough water to make 2 quarts liquid; bring toboil and add rice. Reduce heat and cook until rice is done. Remove from heat and blend in Avgolemeno

Sauce.
Avgolemeno Sauce (Egg-Lemon Sauce)
7 eggs (at room temperature)
2 tablespoons water
Juice of 3 lemons

Beat egg whites with water until stiff. Blend in egg yolks, then add lemon juice, beating until thick.With a ladle, add a small amount of hot broth to the egg mixture, blending quickly. Pour sauce intosoup and serve immediately.