Thursday, November 18, 2010

Soup Season

It's cold. And we're the kind of people the hold out as long as possible to turn the heat on; not because we're of sturdy Norse stock or because of some perverse pride, but for the oh-so-humble reason of: we're cheap.

So what does one do when sticking to a budget but trying to stay warm? Soup! We've been on a soup kick for about a month now. It started on our vacation to Cape Cod back in October. We love the Cape in the fall. The scenery is beautiful, and there's hardly anybody around to spoil it. Even though we were on a vacation, we were still watching our wallets and trying to balance going out to eat with cooking at home. Enter this Garlic Soup recipe from Tasty Kitchen.


In the end, it tasted more like a slightly-garlicky, blended version of French Onion soup. It was tasty, but next time we'll be doubling the garlic. Colin and I are lucky to have each other, because it's important in a relationship to have equal levels of garlic tolerance. And ours are high :).

Garlic Soup


Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 cup Onions, Thinly Sliced
12 cloves Peeled Garlic, Smashed
1 cup Dry White Wine
1 quart Chicken Stock
1 leaf Bay
2 cups French Bread, Torn Into Pieces*
¾ cups Heavy Cream
½ cups Shredded Gruyere (or sharp white cheddar, if you're on a budget like us)
    *note - the color of your bread will determine the color of your soup. French bread is not required. I used some homemade Sally Lunn bread so my soup came out medium brown rather than a lighter tan.
 
Yields
4 servings

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for 10 -12 minutes; the onion and garlic will begin to caramelize. 

2. Add the wine, cover, reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the stock and bay leaf.
3. Bring to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the bread and allow the soup to sit without heat for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
4. In batches, pour the soup into the blender and puree until smooth. Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste. As each batch is pureed, pour into another pot. (Or, if you're lucky, use your immersion blender). Keep warm over low heat. Garnish with the cheese (if desired).


Serving alternative: Colin Version
Colin like chunky soups. So, I didn't blend the entire batch. He go half blended, half un-blended, topped with extra bread.

1 comment:

  1. Mike and I also share a love of garlicky soups. He makes a tomato basil soup that we end up eating almost exclusively with homemade garlic bread (who needs spoons?). That particular meal will give you garlic breath for about three days. It's intense.

    ~ Kristen

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