Garlic Soup
Serves 6
Don't be put off by the title of this soup; it's mellow, rich and comforting. The garlic flavour in this dish is not at all like the raw garlic flavour people love and/or dread! It's closer to roasted garlic which is gentle and sweet, so you will still be able to approach people at close range after a bowl of this soup.
Break the garlic bulbs apart and leave the cloves to soak in warm water for 10 mins. This will make peeling easier.
Tie the bay leaves and thyme together with cotton string. Peel the garlic cloves and shallots. Finely slice the peeled garlic and shallots and gently fry them in the butter along with the bay, thyme and a little salt and white pepper.
The aim here is to caramelise the natural sugars in the garlic/shallots, so you will need a gentle heat and to keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. The garlic and shallots will start to turn a lovely amber. This is good but don't let it go too far; a dark brown indicates burnt sugar and could taste bitter.
Add the milk and stock and bring to the boil.
Add the bread and let it cook for 5 mins, until very soft. Blend the soup until very smooth, check for seasoning.
Serve with a sprinkling of chives.
Ingredients
3 garlic bulbs
6 shallots
70g butter
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
80g of stale white bread, crusts removed
850ml full fat milk
850ml vegetable or chicken stock
Salt
White pepper
1 small bunch of chives, finely chopped
Tip
This soup is very rich and intense so it's best to serve it fairly thin. If yours turns out quite thick, just add a little more milk or stock.
Croutons are lovely in this soup but obviously not garlic croutons...
The bread can be substituted for 100g of floury potatoes (King Edwards for example)
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