Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

Since I forgot to take a picture of the Macaroni and Cheese soup, I thought I would redeem myself by making another soup.  I have been making an attempt to keep our Monday's meat-less.. ish.  I think that since I use beef or chicken broth I can't exactly say it is meatless.  Anyway, I'm a huge soup fan and have been aching to try my hand at garlic soup.  It just sounds so intriguing! I love garlic. I love soup... to me its just a win win!

I found a recipe here  on the food network website.  I did want to shake it up a bit; I wanted to roast my garlic first.  The cheese adds just the right bite to it and takes this soup over the top!

Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

adapted from the food network
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onions, thinly sliced
2 heads of garlic, roasted
1 cup dry white wine
1 quart chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 cups of French bread, 2-inch pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

Directions

To roast the Garlic: cut head of garlic in half.  Lightly drizzle with olive oil and wrap in parchment paper or tinfoil.  Bake at 375 Degrees F. for about thirty minutes.

In a large soup pot add tablespoon of olive oil; add onion and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes.  Add roasted garlic to pot and continue cooking for another 4-5 minutes; the onion and garlic will begin to caramelize.
Deglaze the pot by adding the wine and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the stock and bay leaf; bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for thirty minutes.Remove from the heat and add the bread cubes. Allow the soup to sit without heat for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Using a hand held blender, puree until smooth. Add the cream and adjust the seasonings. Serve garnished  with the cheese.

Macaroni and Cheese Soup

You will have to forgive me this month... You see, this soup was so delicious that I completely forgot to take a picture!  Everyone in the family gave this a big hooray... doesn't happen that often when we all can agree on a keeper recipe!

Macaroni and Cheese Soup
adapted from Food Network Magazine

Kosher salt
1 cup dry elbow macaroni
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons butter
1 carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, shredded
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (we like heat so I added more, but this is a good start!)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 and 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 and 1/4 cups milk
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

Fill a large sauce pan with water, add kosher salt and bring to a boil.  Add macaroni and cook according to
package directions.  Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, add 2 tablespoons butter and melt; add the vegetables and cook over medium high heat until softened, about 4 minutes.  Add the flour; cook stirring constantly for another 2 minutes (you want the flour to brown slightly to eliminate the raw taste of flour).  Add the mustard powder ad cayenne pepper.  Gradually stir in the stock and bring to a boil; stir until thickened, about 6 minutes.
Remove from the heat and add the milk, cheeses and macaroni.  Stir until the cheese melt; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4

vivian
http://letstrythese.blogspot.com

Strawberry Soup(ish)

Never to turn away a challenge, this month I join in on the fun with the monthly challenge. The challenge for this month was to use something in season. I've always wanted to try a fruit soup. I found this interesting recipe for Strawberry Soup at allrecipes. I made a few changes based on the ingredients I had in my kitchen as I was too hot and too lazy to go shopping! It was delicious, but more beverage like than soup though. Will have to try another fruit soup again.... someday. I have posted the recipe as I found it and in the italics I have put my changes. Enjoy!

Strawberry Soup(ish)

serves five

2 pints strawberries

2 cups plain yogurt   I used vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup water

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

I replaced the cardamom with ground ginger

Directions

In a blender, combine the strawberries, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, water and cardamom. Puree until well mixed. Chill and serve.

Really disappointed that this wasn't more soup like... I'm going to have to do another recipe for this challenge.  I've got a bunch of basil growing, wonder what I can come up!
Vivian lets try these