Roasted Garlic Soup

Break time from trying to figure out what Wendi is up to (was a supporting character, has grabbed the thread and insists on being a co-protagonist. mutter). I see I missed Tamara’s Thursday Night Exchange as the category is one of my favorites: soup. Since I grossed her out with my pig snout/split pea soup last time, I thought I’d make belated amends with this one.

Now like a lot of my soups, there’s the absolute basic, and then there are the variations that can be done to increase.

BASIC:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 heads of garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1 quart of water.
1 sprig fresh thyme OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
salt to taste.

Phase I: roast cloves
preheat oven to 350 (F)
Put olive oil in small flat roasting pan so it covers the bottom.
Without peeling, split the garlic heads and put cut side down in the oil
Roast approximately 1 hour, till garlic is browned on cut end and soft to touch.
Lift peels from cloves.

Phase II: make garlic roux
Pour oil from roasting into sauce pan.
Add flour and mix thoroughly.
Add the cloves, mash and mix thoroughly.
turn on burner to medium-medium high and fry roux for approximately one minute. Basically just till it’s hot and you begin to smell the frying garlic.

Phase III: Make soup.
Add the water and thyme to the roux, stir thoroughly, and heat (stirring frequently) till it thickens.
Salt to taste and serve.

NOT a hard soup, not really, and quite good (and inexpensive), but there are several options for improvement and delight.

The first is probably obvious: substitute broth for the water. Chicken or vegetable are best, beef and fish work, pork does not work (to my taste).

The second is to add four to eight (depending on taste) minced cloves to the roux before bringing the heat. It adds the ‘fresh’ garlic to the roasted garlic, creating a more complex taste.

Third: caramelize some sliced onions. The only way I’ve really had success with this is to cook them separately and add them when I’m adding the broth.

Fourth: Noodles. Angel hair pasta works best for my preference, and I tend to break it into 2 to 4 inch lengths. Add them when you add the liquid and it should be done about right by the time the soup is thick enough.

Fifth: Feel free to use other herbs. Thyme just ‘fits’ for me, but you can go with an amazing breadth or combination solely based on your preferences.

Finally, I’m one of those who think you can almost never go wrong with mushrooms; sliced or whole, fresh or roasted, go with your personal taste. Realize that any guests will think you’ve made a mushroom soup with a great garlic flavor instead of a garlic soup with mushrooms. Just smile and eat some more soup.

Nasty Bits: Pig Snout Soup

It’s been a long time since I did a nasty bits recipe. Then I got this inspiration the other day (blame Tamara, grin).

Now one of the interesting things about this dish is that it is a great psychological warfare against certain types of boys. You know, the “I wanna gross you out” kids. You’ve got a pig’s nose cooking in a greenish liquid.

AT THE SAME TIME, it is an outstanding split pea soup. And in fact at its heart it’s pretty close to being the easiest split pea soup you can make.

You need a pig snout, a pound of split peas, and water. You can, if you wish, add the various things you think you need for split pea soup: leeks, onions, carrots, garlic, etc. But those are optionals for your flavoring bonus.

Split the pig snout lengthwise and put it in the soup pot. Add the split peas. Add enough water to cover by about an inch, and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat till it only simmers, and let it cook till the peas are “gone” and you’ve got a thick green soup. You need to stir it regularly to prevent burning and mix things a bit, but it’ll take an hour to an hour and a half to this point.

Now it’s time to do more with the pig snout. See, the snout is mostly but not wholly cartilage. All that heat is going to have melted that into your soup, filling it with richness and depth. But you’ve still got the skin, some fat, and a surprising amount of meat. You can pick out the meat and toss the skin, but I’ve another recommendation.

Take the two snout halves out of the soup and rinse them off. Now slice them cross-section about as thick as you like your bacon, and cook them exactly as you would bacon till the skin is crispy. That means broil (my preference) or fry. Some folk like to deep fry but I don’t usually keep a deep fryer set up — it does, however, tend to make a delicious and crispy piece. Anyway, when you serve the soup you can toss a few of these onto the top as you would bacon.

By the way, if you want the taste but can’t stand the thought of seeing snouts floating in green stuff there is an alternative. Chunk the snouts so they don’t look like what they are and make a broth, then remove the meat and use the broth for the split pea soup. It will take longer to make, but it’ll avoid having the censor in the back of your brain stomping on your gag reflex.

Pretty much everything else I’ve done with the pig snout has been using it for broth or crisping it similar to bacon. While there’s meat in there it’s not /that/ much meat, so its not worth roasting or slow-cooking in my opinion.

Oh yes, before I close this let me mention that you can get the snouts smoked, and yes it makes a difference. Both those points should be obvious, but I’ve learned the obvious isn’t.

Have fun.