cream of garlic soup

6 whole heads of garlic
2 T olive oil

Place garlic heads in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Let cool. While the garlic is cooling:

2 large yellow onions
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup minced gingerroot

Melt butter in a heavy 4 qt pot. Rough chop the onions, add to the melted butter, and caramelize the onions over medium heat until golden brown. Add the gingerroot during the final 10 minutes of caramelization. Peel the cooled garlic and put all the roasted cloves into the pot (don’t be afraid! Roasting sweetens and mellows the pungency of the garlic).

1 quart chicken broth
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1-1/2 tsp fresh thyme, if available, or 1/2 tsp dried thyme if not

Add the chicken broth (with meat is fine too), cayenne, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boiling point. At this point you can blend the soup until smooth, but I always leave mine rustic style.

1 cup heavy cream

Add the cream and heat through, adjust seasonings. Serves four. I like to serve this soup with sliced french bread, toasted with garlic butter, or garlic butter croutons (omit if on a carb restricted diet). This soup is wonderful for cold and flu season comfort. Recipe adapted from Health Impact News.