Saturday 5 December 2009

Garlic Soup - a second attempt

A couple of weeks ago I made some cauliflower soup. It was pretty good, but it really made both of us think of the garlic soup we had in Switzerland a couple of years ago.

I'd had an attempt at making it when we got back but it wasn't quite the way we'd remembered it. The cauliflower soup made me think that a base of a pureed vegetable might be the way to go, which led to this.

I used very finely sliced potatoes and the white part of leek, cooked briefly in butter and just enough vegetable stock to cover it until it was tender. When it was cool I pureed the vegetables with a couple of cloves of raw garlic. Then I put this thick puree back in the saucepan, thinned it with white wine and cream and gently reheated it and served it with some seared scallops on top.

This version was better than my previous attempt, but still not quite there. I think the potato base deadened the flavour too much. The next one will be a cauliflower version.

I'll be sending this to Deb for her Souper Sunday round-up.

17 comments:

Bettina Douglas said...

Can't remember every having a garlic soup - but I think the vegetable base sounds like a good base - how about roasted garlic added?

George Gaston said...

Your soup is truly a heavenly masterpiece! I bet the flavors of all your ingredients are present with just a hint of garlic. I am definitely going to try & duplicate your method. Many thanks

Alicia Foodycat said...

Mother - I think roasted garlic would be a good idea.

George - just a hint! It packs a really powerful garlic punch.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

keep working on this recipe... I would love to make a great garlic soup...

But to alter the recipe entirely, maybe keep everything you have, add a beer and grated sharp cheddar and make a GARLIC BEER CHEESE SOUP... hmmm

Chef Aimee said...

I love how you added the scallops! Mmmm!

hungryandfrozen said...

Oh yum. I love garlic and am not put off by large quantities of it :) the leeks and potatoes sound like a good base for it all. However yes - I do find that potato-based soups can have a blanking effect on flavour, maybe it's the dense texture or something, it just absorbs it all?

NKP said...

Yes! Bring on the garlic! Sounds wonderful to me!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Year on the Grill - you are definitely onto something there! Garlic beer cheese soup sounds like heaven.

Aimee - the scallops really made it.

Laura - I don't know what they do but they sure do do it!

Natashya - you won't be plagued by coughs, colds or vampires, either!

Heather S-G said...

Oh no. I am going to be dreaming of garlic soup until I actually make some now. May not have been what you were aiming for...but it's gotten my mouth watering!

Arlene Delloro said...

I've only had garlic soup once, but it was fabulous. Unfortunately, the restaurant has since closed. I'm going to be watching for your third incarnation. I would love to be able to replicate that wonderful soup. I was thinking about roasting the garlic as a way to smoothe it out, too. Plus it would act as a thickener.

Dharm said...

This sounds really interesting!! Never had garlic soup before...

Deb in Hawaii said...

I had a really great garlic soup once that was a thinner broth--I like the thickness of this one. I agree with your Mother--roasted garlic (and lots of it!). ;-)

Alicia Foodycat said...

Heather - glad you like it!

Arlene - yes, I am leaning towards the roasted garlic idea.

Dharm - I think you'd like it!

Deb - I actually think this one was a bit too thick! A little bit thinner would be good.

Bettina Douglas said...

I'm always suspicious about restaurant soup - ever since I asked for recipes from the kitchen of an up market island resort and found they were made on sugar syrup. no wonder they tasted good.

kat said...

Wow, raw garlic?! Is it very sharp?

Alicia Foodycat said...

Mother - bleurgh! Better not to know.

Kat - it has a definite bite.

Esi said...

I'm going to make a garlic soup this afternoon. I have never tried it. Should be interesting.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...