Thursday, October 1, 2015

Garlic Soup

Au Revoir Chef Pepin! (Until We Meet Again), we at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) are saying farewell to our featured chef for the last six months, Jacques Pepin. It has been a wonderful adventure cooking with Jacques Pepin recipes and will be seeing him again in one of our potluck weeks. The new featured chef for the next six months is Ellie Krieger. She is a certified dietitian and nutritionist with several books to her name, with delicious and healthy recipes. If you would like to join us, do drop by IHCC for more info.


To bid "farewell" to Jacques Pepin, I've made his Garlic Soup. I do not cook creamy soup like this as often, and this sounds so French! haha! There's leek, garlic and potatoes, all my favourites. A quick and easy soup to make, yet it is so flavourful.




Leek and whole peeled garlic are sauteed in some olive oil till soften, then the potatoes are added in along with some stock and salt to taste. As usual, I've added a few extra garlic. Boil gently for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft, then the mixture is pureed in a food mill, I've used an immersion blender which takes only a minute or so. Stir two tablespoons of butter through the hot soup and serve with croutons.

To make the croutons, cube some white breads, heat some olive oil in a skillet and drop the bread cubes into the hot oil, turning them often until the bread cubes are brown and crispy.


I garnished with some chopped chives from my garden pot. Lovely garlicky creamy soup! The potatoes makes a natural thickener and adds creaminess to the soup. A winner with my son and daughter. Delicious eaten with the croutons. 


Garlic Soup
(adapted from "Essential Pepin", Jacques Pepin)
Serves 6 to 8
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium leeks, trimmed (leaving most of the green), split, washed, and sliced
12–15 garlic cloves
7 cups homemade chicken stock (see recipe below) or low-salt canned chicken broth
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 cups cubed (1/2-inch) firm-textured white bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy pot. When it is hot, add the leeks and garlic and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the stock, potatoes, and salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and boil gently for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. When it is hot, add the bread cubes and sauté, stirring almost continuously, until they are evenly browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
When the soup is cooked, push it through a food mill. Stir the butter into the hot soup and serve with the croutons.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), theme for this week,
Au Revoir Chef Pepin! (Until We Meet Again)


15 comments:

  1. Simple yet awesome! Would be nice with some garlic bread :-))

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  2. Merhabalar, sarmısak çorbanız çok leziz ve iştah açıcı görünüyor. Ellerinize sağlık.

    Saygılar.

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  3. Hi Joyce!
    Looks like I'm just in time for some mighty good looking soup, perfect for a chilly rainy day here in PA, lol...

    I'm a huge fan of Jacques Pepin. I try to catch him on late night TV whenever possible. A mug of this soup and his TV show and I'd be in heaven!

    Thanks for sharing, Joyce...curious about the new featured chef. Hopefully I'll catch a post or two...

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  4. Your soup looks great Joyce! We love garlic but I've never had garlic soup. So this is a must try! You can't go wrong with Pepin's recipes!

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  5. Hi Joyce! Wah, I know I will love this garlicky soup! Nice to eat and dip with toast or even garlic bread :D

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  6. I love creamy soup ... this bowl of garlic soup must be tasty! Yummy! Perfect with some croutons or garlic bread ^-^!

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  7. I almost made this but I ran out of potatoes. :P

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  8. I can smell the leek and garlic just looking at the soup. Can see the crunchiness of the beautifully browned croutons as well. Great soup!

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  9. Oh yumm looks very comforting could use some comforting these days

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  10. It's better to add mushroom into the soup. Garlic is compatible with types of mushroom and they are healthy.

    Helen@TEFL Courses

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  11. That looks soo good Joyce. Potato-leek soup is such a classic but garlic and crunchy croutons would only make it better!

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  12. As usual you've shared another recipe that is right up my alley! I'm going to pin this one to make during one of our potlucks and/or when Pepin is monthly featured chef! It looks creamy and delicious. Extra croutons for me please:)

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  13. I love garlic soup and how creamy and delicious this one looks. A perfect send-off for Chef Pepin. (Loving those croutons on top too!) ;-)

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  14. This soup is AWESOME!! My husband loved it (his only critique: more garlic!), my baby loved it, and I loved it! It makes a solid 2 meals for my little family, so we ate half fresh and reheated the other half later. It tastes just as good reheated.

    Marlene
    Info site for Atlantic Highlands NJ house cleaning site info

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