Garlic Soup

I saw this recipe several months ago, and was intrigued. Garlic has never been anything besides an added flavor to the main event. Roasted chicken with garlic, for instance. Or pasta sauce. Or roasted plain the way my friend makes it, submerged in olive oil.

But never as soup. So I bookmarked the recipe and promptly forgot about it. Months passed, I moved states, and I've been out of work since then. So I'm trying not to spend much money either. And I found myself home alone for dinner. That's when the garlic soup popped back into my mind. Seriously, this soup is cheap. So here's my version, the main difference being that I didn't have fresh sage. I also didn't bother with the straining. Mmm lazy.

Sorry the picture is lame; I was hungry.

Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried ground sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
12ish cloves garlic, peeled, shoots removed, and sliced
1 teaspoon salt

For the thickener:
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Combine the water through salt in a pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low and simmer the soup for 45 minutes. It's done when the garlic crushes easily with your spoon.

While the soup simmers, separate two of the eggs and set the whites aside for something else (This is an excellent use for them). Whisk the egg yolks with the whole egg. Add in the Parmesan and the pepper and whisk again. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking. That gets everything nice and solidly combined.

Now the fun part. When your soup is done simmering, remove some of the liquid (1/3 cup or so) and slowly pour it into the egg mix, whisking the whole time. This is called tempering eggs. You do it so the eggs don't scramble and get weird. Keep whisking and add more cooking liquid until the egg mix is nice and hot. Pour the egg mix into the soup, again whisking like crazy. Scrambled eggs in soup is actually quite delicious, but it's not what you're going for here.

Cook the soup over medium low for a few minutes, until it reaches the consistency of cream. Ladle into bowls and serve! I ate mine with whole grain bread.