Garlic Soup (W/Pics)

I worked off of this recipe, but with slight changes:

Garlic Soup, Bayona (NOLA)

1 stick butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 full cups peeled garlic cloves (two six oz. jars)

3 lbs chopped/sliced onions (3 very large onions) I used two yellow and one red.

2 quarts Chicken Stock

1/2 loaf stale French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1.5 teaspoon thyme

1 cup half and half

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Bay Leaf

Salt & Pepper to taste




Melt Butter and Olive Oil in a large pot and sautee down onions and garlic for 30 minutes on low/med-low heat. You DO NOT want to burn the garlic. Add a little pepper to taste if you like. Onions and garlic should reduce by about 2/3 and become somewhat creamy. They should be tan-ish in color.*I added 1/2 cup of white wine to the onions/garlic for the last 10 minutes. I think this added a nice flavor to the finished product.



After the initial 30 minutes, raise the heat to med-hi and sautee for another 10 minutes to add a little more color to the onions/garlic. Stir constantly to keep it from sticking and burning.
(sorry, no finished pic of sauteed onions/garlic)

Next, add 2 qts chicken stock, the bread, thyme, bay leaf. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.


The recipe then calls for you to puree the contents in a blender of food processor, then strain back into the pot. Well, like the lady with curlers in her hair said,"Ain't nobody got time for that!", so I used my immersion blender for about 5-7 minutes. It worked fine (be sure to remove the bay leaf first). Soup was now silky smooth.


Add salt and pepper to taste, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup half and half. Bring to a boil for a minute or so, remove from heat. Done. Makes about 4 quarts



Serve with a little fresh parmesan and some croutons


I had never heard of garlic soup until earlier this week when I saw it on some show on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. Love garlic, had to try it. My first attempt turned out pretty good. The garlic taste was definitely there, but a lot more subtle than I thought it would be. You aren't blown away by garlic. The sweetness of the onions obviously takes care of that. I was very pleased. I can also tell that this soup is going to be MUCH better tomorrow. Hell, it was better an hour later. If you are looking for something different to serve as a starter, rather than the same old pasta dishes or something like that, this will definitely be a conversation starter.