Cream of Garlic Soup
Creamy and smooth, this soup distills the taste of garlic. Chef Bonnot includes his recipe for chicken stock; if you already have chicken stock you like, use your own.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Onions - 2, sliced
- Garlic - 4 heads, separated, individual cloves mashed
- Chicken Stock (see below) - 1 quart
- French Bread - 1/2 pound, day-old
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Thyme - 2 sprigs, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 6 ounces
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Watercress - 1/2 bunch
- Chicken Stock
- Chicken - 2 pounds, chicken backs, necks, and gizzards, bones included
- Celery - 3 stalks, roughly chopped
- Carrots - 2, chopped
- Onions - 2, chopped
- Parsley - 4 sprigs
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
Instructions
Melt the butter in a soup pot and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, until softened. Strain a quart of stock into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the bread slices and add the bay leaf and thyme. Simmer 10 minutes longer, then process until smooth. Force through a sieve. Return to the heat and stir in the cream. Heat through. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
To serve: Ladle into individual soup plates. Garnish with bits of watercress.
Chicken Stock
Put the ingredients in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, longer if desired. Skim the foam as it forms. When the stock has finished cooking, strain through a fine-meshed sieve, then strain through a sieve lined with two layers of cheesecloth. Chill, then lift off the solidified fat. Store in the refrigerator, or freeze in an airtight container.
