Bavarian Garlic Soup

Ahhhhhhhh...I love garlic! 

It's good for your heart, not to mention, it helps keep vampires away. Although, I wouldn't exactly turn this one away or anything...

Anyway, when Eric and I visited Bavaria back in 2010, there was this fabulous restaurant at the base of Mt. Jenner we went to that made this absolutely amazing garlic soup. 

The fabulous Bavarian garlic soup at the restaurant:

We were in the area for several days, and every single day..we went back there for this soup. It's insanely delicious! The day before we left back for Belgium, I talked to the gal who actually made it and asked if I could "possibly" get some sort of run down for the recipe so I could attempt to make it when we get home. Ya know, for reminiscing purposes, lol. She actually gave me the recipe! How cool is that?? 

1 tsp garlic salt

3 tbs unsalted butter

16 cloves garlic

1/4 cup sifted flour

1 cup cooking cream

1 1/2 cup chicken (or vegetable) stock

2 tbs chopped parsley, plus additional for garnish

2 slices crusty bread

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, preferably with a rounded bottom (easier for whisking). I'm sure you can use already minced garlic, but I prefer to do everything from scratch with fresh ingredients :) 

Keep the butter on a low heat and add the garlic, finely minced or squeezed through a garlic press. Sauté gradually, on low heat, making sure the garlic does not brown.

When the garlic has softened (5-10 minutes), begin whisking in the flour so that it forms a thick paste. Add the milk and whisk (use a silicone whisk). Add the stock and garlic salt; whisk.

After you let it cook for about 10 minutes, use a  fine strainer to pour the soup into (have another bowl or pot to put the soup in it). The strainer will catch all the lil chunks of garlic so you don't have floaties in your soup. TRUST ME, it's not a nice texture when you leave the garlic in there! 

Cut the bread into croutons and toast. Serve the soup topped with croutons. (obviously, I didn't use croutons)

 

This is a GREAT soup to make when it's really cold outside (like it is here) and it's VERY filling! I double the recipe since there's three of us here and the guys like having left overs for the next day. So, I highly recommend that you double it if you have a family...ESPECIALLY if you have family members who eat like mine! The only real time consuming part is peeling all of the garlic, but I tend to look past that since the final product makes the effort worth while. 

Enjoy!