Well folks,
this one didn't turn out like I hoped. I had such a fun time shopping for all the ingredients and making it that I almost didn't mind though. Almost. I doubled the batch and aside from adding some chilies to the broth, leaving out the sage, pureeing the garlic along with a handful of toasted walnuts (that I also steeped in the broth), and adding a squeeze of lemon at the end, I followed the recipe pretty closely. I was expecting a creamy, earthy soup with a mellowed but readily apparent garlic presence, and this just wasn't it. To be sure, this looked really cool being made. The giant sprig of thyme ripped from the garden, bay leaves, chilies, and garlic all floating in a cool old Dutch oven looked like something out of a cookbook, but it was a little too steamy to get a good picture for you, unfortunately. The soup, almost unimaginably, was simply not garlicky. At all. I had 13 cloves in there. The consistency was too thin and the herbs were not present. It's just not a good recipe. It needs some heavy cream and more garlic. Much more garlic. I was toying with the idea of roasting it beforehand, but figured there was a good reason why this step had been omitted. I toasted up some whole-wheat croutons that would have gone nicely with it, but I just threw the whole thing away. Luckily, I can blame "Richard Olney" and perhaps myself, because most of the things I get from Heidi are really quite good. I've acquired other sources for my garlic fix anyway. Note to self: when making garlic soup, everyone you know will appear out of nowhere to pester you incessantly.
Second note to self: you forgot to double the garlic when you doubled everything else, and neither Heidi or Richard Olney are at fault here, buddy. Go eat some salami and post what you just wrote before you realized what you did, because someone else can learn from a mistake you made. Do it. You know you're not going to make that soup again today anyway. Tell everyone some tips about tempering and separating eggs and peeling garlic. You'll feel better. You're not even hungry right now. You had a good time making it and you need to chill the [censored] out and go watch the movie. You had a great day and it's not that big of a deal.
(Third note to self
Ok, I feel totally fine.
