Garlic soups.

SOPA DE AJO (Garlic Soup)

10 large cloves of garlic, peeled (ok, so we use more)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans beef broth with 2 cans water (or if you have 5 cups homemade beef stock, it's better)
1-2 dried Bay leaves
1 bunch fresh cilantro (reserve some for garnish)
¼ c. catsup (ketchup? I never know)
⅓ Cup grated Parmesan cheese ( the cardboard Kraft kind works)
2 beaten egg yolks
4-5 slices buttered bread

Mince or mash garlic and saute in olive oil until tender. Stir in broth, water (if using canned broth), cilantro, and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for about an hour--add catsup and simmer for about 15 minutes uncovered.

Meanwhile, butter bread and toast it in a 325 degree oven for 10-15 min--croutons. Quarter slices and use 2-3 quarters per bowl.

Strain soup. I use one of those mesh colanders. Add 1 Cup soup gradually to beaten egg yolks and return to saucepan to thicken slightly, stirring constantly. Add Parmesan cheese until it's incorporated and doesn't look grainy--5 min? Put toast quarters in bowl and pour hot soup over--garnish with more cilantro--serves about four people, and it's very good.

Julie's Amazing Garlic (And Other Stuff) Soup

4-5 cups water
2 bulbs garlic
½ cup fresh basil
4 scallions
¼ cup peanuts
1 bullion cube
⅛ cup sesame seeds
A _very_ slight amount of rosemary
2 tbs brewer's yeast

(Optional-- a dash of cumin or oregano-- some people like it, some don't. Also optional is to add a little chopped spinach, sliced carrots,cubed tofu, slivers of tempeh, bits of seaweed or slices of broccoli to add more "meat" to the soup).

Heat water in medium sized pot. Add the bullion cube and the scalions to the water and wait for boil. While the water is heating, peel the garlic, mince the basil and chop the scallions into thin slices. Put the garlic, peanuts and basil in a blender. Once water has boiled, lower heat to simmer. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for ten minutes, with lid removed from pot.

sweat gently over a low flame 20 large fresh peeled cloves of garlic in a couple of tbs of your best olive oil. When soft, mash them, add a quart of water or home prepared vegetable stock, add a tsp mace, (pieces are fine), a stick of cinnamon and some nutmeg.Add plenty fresh black pepper. Bring to boil and simmer for half hour. Seperate 3 or 4 eggs, strain the soup and reserve. Beat the egg yolks gently and slowly add a cup of the warm reserved soup to the yolks so's not to curdle. Return this to the soup and gently reheat the strained soup adjusting the seasoning. Meanwhile dip a slice of bread in the egg whites and place one in each preheated bowl. pour the hot soup over the bread and serve.

Put about 8 cups of water in the dutch oven. If you prefer, you can start with stock. I don't usually have stock, so I make it out of bullion cubes.

Add the following:
at least 1 whole chopped white onion (more if you like onion) (I don't like yellow or vidalia, too sweet, not enough bite ... )
at least 1 head of garlic, broken into cloves and the cloves peeled and chopped into big chunks (if you don't like chunks of garlic, chop them up finer)
Bay leaves (I generally use 1 per cup if they are cheap and dried, fresh ones would probably taste better, but I can never get them)
6-8 bullion cubes (chicken or veggie), or any other thing you can use to turn the water into "stock" (omit if you start with actual stock)
Celery to taste, including leaves
Carrots to tasted, sliced (I don't peel them, I just wash 'em and slice 'em up)
3-4 unpeeled, washed potatoes (I prefer white, golden, or red, but russets will do if that's all you have) cut up into smallish chunks; maybe no bigger than .5 inch cubes.
Sage to taste (fresh is best, but well dried and cared for will do, too)
Thyme to taste
Rosemary to taste
Summer Savory (if you like it, my husband isn't fond of it)
Some black pepper (not much, just a tad)
I'd avoid adding salt, the stock or bullion is usually salty enough for cooking.

I bring this to a boil, then turn it down to simmer for a while. Maybe 45 mins? Until the carrots are starting to soften. (the carrots may take longer to cook than the potatoes depending how big your chunks are). Then I add chunks of chicken (I really like chicken in this), and let the chicken start cooking. If you don't like chicken, I bet you could try some tofu chunks (but I've never tried it, they may not work).

Then I add some tortellini with cheese in it. And once the tortellini is done, the veggies are usually plenty cooked. At the last minute I add a TON of FRESH FRESH FRESH chopped parsley (any kind, as long as it's fresh, you need to add only fresh because the main point to adding it is for the vitamin C it has, and if it isn't fresh, it won't have the vitamin C anymore!). I also garnish it with the green part of some scallions chopped.