Creamy Roasted Garlic Soup

We love garlic in our house even more than we love bacon.  Massive quantities of garlic go into just about everything we cook.  I've been meaning to make some more soup recently because we had several containers of vegetable broth in the freezer as well as bags full of frozen veggies to make more stock, so I knew I had to use some up.  Roasted garlic soup is something neither of us had tried, but we've seen it on a few cooking shows and wanted to try it!  Lots of the recipes I saw online were for a completely smooth, creamy soup, but I wanted a little bit of chunky vegetable bite in mine.  Man, this soup came out great... we'll be making this one again soon, no doubt!

If you're not real familiar with the qualities of roasted garlic, I think it's important to explain that as the garlic roasts, it loses it's sharp, pungent taste and becomes much more mild and sweet.  So if you're not as into garlic as we are, don't let the 4+ heads of garlic in this recipe scare you away!  It's really got a pleasant, smooth flavour to it.

Thought I'd go with some F-Minus for this recipe... we'd just finished watching the movie/documentary "Give 'Em the Boot" again the other night, and I was thinking how I don't have many female singers posted on the blog here.  So F-Minus, performing "Light At the End".  -jen






CREAMY ROASTED GARLIC SOUP

Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Cook Time:  45 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Serves:  4-6 

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup finely diced onion (or 1 small onion)
• 3/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper (or 1 small pepper)
• 3/4 cup finely diced carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
• 1 and 3/4 cup finely diced Yukon Gold potato (or 1 medium potato)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons flour (or 1/4 cup for a thicker soup)
• 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
• 4 bulbs of roasted garlic (see roasting instructions below, takes an hour to roast)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon sherry
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup heavy cream
• black pepper to taste
• shredded Parmesan cheese and lemon wedges for serving

To Roast Garlic:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Chop the tops of the garlic heads off.  Peel away the outer skins (leaving the clove skins in tact).  Place on aluminum foil.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.  Fold foil up around garlic heads and seal.  Place foil packet in oven, directly on rack, and bake for 1 hour.  Remove from oven, carefully open foil, and allow to cool.  To remove garlic from the garlic paper, just squeeze the whole head and the garlic will deliciously ooze out... just be careful not to mix any of the garlic paper in.
** For this soup recipe, I took about 1/2 a cup of the broth and the roasted garlic and blended it until smooth.  I highly suggest doing this.

In a stock pot, heat butter over medium-high heat.  Add diced onion, bell pepper, carrot, potato and minced garlic.  Cook until onion and pepper are tender, 5-7 minutes.  Stir in flour to coat vegetables and cook another 3-5 minutes.  Add stock and roasted garlic all at once and whisk so that the flour doesn't clump.  Add Worcestershire, sherry and thyme.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.  Stir in cream and let simmer an additional 10 minutes.

To serve, place Parmesan cheese in bottom of bowl, ladle soup over the cheese, and squeeze the juice of 1-2 lemons into soup.

Bloody Mary Soup

First thing first - I feel it's important to note with this recipe that 3.5 pounds of heirloom  tomatoes cost us $12 at our Farmers' Market.  If you're on a budget, you can always use plum tomatoes in this recipe instead.  But the heirloom are so very, very awesome.  It makes a ton of soup, so I'd say it's well worth the cost!  And most likely, you're going to have some delicious leftovers.

We make a pretty solid Roasted Tomato & Basil soup, and that was my game plan when I started.  But like most things I cook, I decided to try a few different ingredients.  It really just depends on what we have on hand and what kind of mood I'm in!  As I added the carrots and celery, which don't go in my normal recipe, I started thinking about Bloody Marys and thought, "Why not?!"  We really liked how this soup came out!  I was so bummed we didn't have any vodka on hand!  And we were broke, so we couldn't even run to the corner store for a little bit.  The sherry was quite delicious with it, just the same.

As you may or may not have noticed... we've pretty much always posted punk rock music with our recipes.  But let's be real - our music preferences are way more diverse than just punk.  I suppose I could just choose a random punk song that I like to go with the recipe, but really, I was listening to Glasvegas the entire time I was making this soup, trying to sing along in my best Scottish accent (at least the words I understood, which is only about half of them), so it seems like the thing to post.  Here's "Geraldine", off their first album.  -jen

BLOODY MARY SOUP
Prep Time: 20 minutes  
Cook Time: 2 hours 
Difficulty:  Medium
Serves:  10-12  

• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3.5 pounds (7 medium) heirloom tomatoes, quartered
• 1 head garlic
• salt and pepper

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 can (28 ounces) whole, peeled tomatoes
• 1 large bunch basil, chopped (2-3 cups packed leaves)
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon green Tabasco (or your favourite hot sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
• 1 teaspoon Accent/MSG (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup sherry (optional)*

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Chop the top off of the garlic head to expose the cloves.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper.  Wrap in aluminum foil.  On a baking sheet, toss the quartered tomatoes with the remaining olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the garlic foil packet in the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, add the baking sheet of tomatoes to the oven and roast for 45 minutes.  (The garlic will roast for 1 hour total.)  When cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out of its paper right onto the roasted tomatoes and set aside until ready to use.


In a large stock pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil plus butter over a medium-high heat.  Add red onion, carrot, celery and red pepper flake.  Saute for about 10 minutes, until onion is translucent.  Stir in flour and cook an additional 5 minutes. 

Stir in the chicken stock and milk, using a whisk to break up any flour lumps.  Add the roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic, the canned tomatoes, basil, green onions, minced garlic, dried thyme, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Tabasco, horseradish and Accent.  Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about 40 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in sherry right before serving.

*Note: I think this would probably be delicious and more true to a Bloody Mary is you used vodka instead of sherry... but we were out of vodka!  

Caramelized Onion Jam Pork Roast

So, I'd had a desire to make some onion jam recently and finally found a recipe I liked as well as the motivation to actually attempt it.  It came out delicious!  With roasted garlic and some apple cider how can you go wrong?  Once it was done, however, I needed to use it on something.  So we got a nice, big pork tenderloin roast and carved it out into a flat sheet, brined it overnight, smothered it with the jam, cranberries, raisins, pecans, and rolled it back up and baked it.  Awesome is the best way to describe it. The brine is good for both pork and chicken and the jam works well on bagels with cream cheese, most meats, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are next on my list to try.

To back it up musically, I've got some Cock Sparrer with one of my favorites from them "Take 'Em All".  Nothing like some gutter punks to compliment a nice fall meal! - justin

Brine

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Makes: Approx 2 quarts
Level: Easy

• 5 cups water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1 tsp brown mustard seed
• 1 tsp whole allspice berries
• 1 tsp whole corriander seed
• 4 whole bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flake
• 1 whole cinnamon stick

Add all ingredients to a 3 qt saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.  This can be frozen for later use if desired.

Caramelized Onion & Roasted Garlic Jam

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Makes: Slightly less than 2 quarts
Level: Easy

• 4 heads of garlic
• 4 cups onion, chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 5 cups sugar
• 2 oz dried pectin

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Remove the papery outer skin from the garlic heads but do not peel or separate cloves.  Cut off the top inch of the garlic bulbs and brush with olive oil.   Wrap each bulb in heavy duty foil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until soft.  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

In a dutch oven, saute onions in butter for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Squeeze softened garlic into pan. Stir in the cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, white pepper, ginger, cloves, and smoked paprika. Bring to a rolling boil. Gradually add sugar, stirring constantly. Return to a boil for 3 minutes. 

Add the pectin and bring to a rolling boil.  Boil for one minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and allow the liquid to cool for 5 minutes, scraping any foam off the top afterward.  Pour mixture into sterile quart canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch of head space.  Adjust the caps and process in boiling water for 10 minutes if long term storage is desired.  Otherwise the jam can be stored in the fridge for immediate use.


Onion Jam Pork Roast


Prep Time:12 hours
Cook Time: 2 to 2.5 hrs
Serves: 8 people
Level: Medium

• 5 lb pork tenderloin roast
• 1 qt pork or chicken brine
• 1 cup Caramelized Onion Jam
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper

Fillet the pork roast out into a flat sheet, like a flank steak.  Take a large knife and cut an inch thick piece along the length so the as you roll the roast away from the knife you create a sheet of meat.  Place in a gallon ziplock bag and all enough brine to cover the top of the meet.  Place in a spill proof container overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Remove the pork from the brine and rinse with cold water to remove the brine.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  Lay the pork out flat, over three pieces of butchers twine (cotton string) cut to 1 ft in length, and cover evenly with the jam, raisins, pecans, and cranberries.  It should look like this when you are done:

Roll the roast back up and tie off at even intervals with the butchers twine.  Place in a roasting pan, sprinkle the top with the salt and pepper and place in the oven for 30 minutes a lb, or until the center of the roast reaches an internal temp of 150 degrees.  Remove from heat and allow the roast to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Serve with the jam as a condiment or topping and enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Barbecue Sauce; Roasted Garlic Creamed Cauliflower

These were recipes Justin came up with for dinner the other night.  They're really simple and easy dishes that seem a little more decadent than just "meat and potatoes".  His play list consisted of the Descendents' compilation album, "Somery".   -jen

PREPARE THE ROASTED GARLIC FOR THE CAULIFLOWER DISH

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare roasted garlic by cutting off stem end, about 1/4" into the garlic cloves.  Place garlic, cut side up, in the center of a square of aluminum foil that's about 8"x8". Drizzle the exposed garlic with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Salt and pepper it with a pinch of each.  Fold ends of foil to make a pouch that won't leak and roast garlic in 375 oven for 60 minutes.  Remove and let cool.

ROASTED PORK LOIN

• 3 pound pork loin roast
• 1.5 teaspoons Sate seasoning (Indonesian spice found at Penzeys.com)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all spices in a small dish.  Rub outside of entire roast with seasoning mixture.  

Place pork in roasting pan, fat-side facing up.  Cook in 350 degree oven uncovered for approximately 45 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 148 degrees using a meat thermometer.  Remove roast from oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve with warmed or chilled Blackberry Barbecue Sauce.

ROASTED GARLIC CREAMED CAULIFLOWER

• 1 head of roasted garlic 
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into large chunks
• 1 cup shredded Gouda cheese
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temp
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, parsley, or any herb of choice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Steam cauliflower in a large pot by placing 1" of water in the bottom of the pan.  Put cauliflower in pan, cover and bring to a boil.  When water begins boiling, turn heat down to a simmer and keep covered until tender, about 25 minutes.  Test cauliflower by poking with a fork.  If fork slides in easily, cauliflower is done.  Remove from heat and drain thoroughly.

Using a food processor or immersion stick blender, combine drained cauliflower with all other ingredients and blend until smooth.  Garnish with chopped green onions.