Despite my family of garlic haters, I love garlic. And I love lots of
it in all forms. A very close older family friend eats it raw and
rubbed on toast, then spread with butter or rendered duck fat. It's now
his daily health ritual since he learned garlic has been shown to keep
the heart healthy and keep cancer at bay. Maybe he knows a thing or
two, because he's going to be 90 next year. Sometimes I even indulge in
a slice of garlic toast too. Though I try to keep the practice at a
minimum because I don't want to go around smelling. Even so, almost all
my cooking and the recipes on this site start with sautéing garlic.
Garlic is just one of those vegetables that many people use and it
crosses many cultural boundaries. It's a base flavor in Mediterranean,
Asian, and North African cuisine. I have always wanted to use garlic
for something more than just a base, instead a main ingredient.
A
few weeks ago I had the idea of making garlic soup. With the chilly
weather here in the Northeast, I was craving a warming and comforting
soup packed with flavor. But when thinking about garlic soup,
'comforting' might not be the exact word that comes to mind for
everybody. Most people hate garlic for its pungent taste and odor, but
boiling it really tames its pungency. The garlic becomes mellow but
still keeps all the wonderful properties of its unique flavor. Another
bonus of this preparation is that there is much less smell after eating
compared to sautéed garlic. Garlic haters might actually change their
minds after eating this soup.
Unlike
very thick puréed soups, this one is more of a broth. Adding pieces of
bread to the soup is a great way to make it more hearty. Besides good
crusty french bread, a good pairing for this soup is fried shrimp.
Instead of breadcrumbs, I dredge the shrimp in chopped pistachios not
only for their sweet nutty flavor but also for their crunchy texture.
To serve the soup rather elegantly, I like to put a piece of bread in
the bowl that I then pour over with soup. The bread island is just the
right spot to lay a couple of shrimp. It makes for a beautiful
presentation for a dinner party, but if it's just me, I'll put a couple
more shrimp on top.
Forty Cloves of Garlic Soup
3 tablespoons olive oil
40 garlic cloves (about 2 heads), peeled
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
coarse sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
French bread or baguette
pistachio-crusted shrimp, recipe follows
Warm
oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; sauté until
onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add spices and toast for 2
minutes. Pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil, and simmer on low
until garlic is tender, about 20 minutes.
Using a blender, purée
the soup in batches until silky smooth. Return to heat and warm. Stir
in cream and season with salt and pepper. To serve, add a slice of
bread to each bowl and ladle over with soup. Top bread platform with a
few shrimp. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
Pistachio-Crusted Shrimp
16 large shrimp, deveined and peeled with tails on
1/4 cup Wondra flour
2 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, finely chopped
canola oil
Prepare
a station for coating the shrimp. Combine flour and Cajun seasoning on
a plate; season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg
whites. Add the chopped pistachios to a plate. Pat dry shrimp before
beginning. Coat each shrimp first with flour mixture. Then dip one by
one into the egg whites. Finally coat the shrimp with chopped
pistachios, making sure to press the shrimp into the nuts to coat all
around.
Warm oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
Once oil reaches smoking point, add the shrimp. Fry one minute per
side. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Yield: 4 servings.
Joseph Erdos is a New York–based writer and editor, but above all a gastronomer and oenophile. He shares his passion for food on his blog, Gastronomer's Guide , which features unique recipes and restaurant reviews among many other musings on the all-encompassing topic of food.