Tempt My Tummy Tuesday - 1/6/2009

Last week, I made Baked Garlic and Onion Cream Soup for the family on Tuesday night.  Everyone except Wild Man really enjoyed it.  For New Year's Eve, we had two of the kids' friends over, age 14 and 11.  The soup was all gone before 10pm!  The kids thought it was wonderful!  So, I decided to share the recipe on my blog today.  I found this recipe (by Darryl Kilsdonk) in the Appleton Post-Crescent a couple of years ago.

Ingredients:

• 6 large onions, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 2 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
• 5 cups chicken stock or canned broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Directions

• Preheat over to 350 degrees.
• Place the onions and garlic in a shallow roasting pan (I don't have a roasting pan, so I just split everything between two 9x13 pans which works quite well for me.)
• Add 3 cups chicken stock then sprinkle with thyme, pepper, and kosher salt.  Dot with butter.
• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir once or twice while it is baking.  (Note:  I quite often bake for 1 3/4 hours to 2 hours which makes the onions softer and the soup creamier.)
• Remove the pan from the oven and use a blender or food processor to puree the onions and garlic with the liquid in batches, until smooth.
• With the motor on, gradually add the remaining 2 cups stock and the cream.  Pour the soup into a large saucepan.  (My blender won't hold all the soup, so I blend the contents of one 9x13 pan, empty it into the saucepan, then repeat with the contents of the other pan, then add the remaining broth and cream directly to the saucepan.  I usually puree the living daylights out of the soup so it ends up being quite smooth.)
• Adjust the seasonings and slowly heat through.  Do not allow the soup to boil.  Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.  Serves 6 to 8.

This soup is delicious with french bread.  But, make sure that your spouse or significant other enjoys it with you or the garlic could be overwhelming.  Check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace for more great recipes!!