Garlic Soup - Using my own garlic!

If you have been following this since the birth of The Littlest Anchovy, you would know that I have been (very patiently, for me) growing my first ever crop of garlic. Well, I am here today to tell you that it is finally ready to eat. Around mid-December the stalks began to fall over in its pot. At first I began to think that all that ant murder was for nothing and that a garlic-loving ant was what karma had in store for my next life. So after consulting my veggie garden guru, I was informed that hers had also fallen over and it was time to harvest them. “I would pull them out now”, she said, but sometimes I am not the best receiver of advice and instead I attempted to prop them up with sticks to try and get them to grow a bit more for another week. Yet still the plants broke free of their splints and lay down flat.

The outer leaves had become papery and after much deliberation and consulting many

conflicting sources, I decided that it was time to yank them out. We were having some foul weather in December and I was worried that they might rot.

So they were a bit smaller than I thought they might be but I don’t think they would have grown much bigger (they had been in the ground for well over 9 months) and just as any mother would look upon their own offspring, I thought they were perfect.

It was now time to hang them up in a dark, airy place to dry out. I was happy to wait for this to happen, what with Christmas and New Year’s happening.  Then the other day I checked on them and it was time. They were all dried out and ready to be devoured.

For two of them, their fate happens to lie in a restorative garlic and sage broth, spooned over some good sourdough and a poached egg. Restorative, simple and amazingly flavoursome. The recipe was given to me by a friend who found it in the the New York Times online.

I was a little skeptical as to what sage and garlic broth would be like; I either thought that the garlic would leap up and punch me in the face considering you use around 16 cloves and the cooking time is really not that long, or that it would not taste like much at all, leaving me cursing the recipe for making me waste 2 of my bulbs. Instead, as I continued to eat, this feeling of well-being crept up inside me. This is what people should eat when they feel sick or just plain unhappy. The garlic and sage mingled together and were subtle (no punch in the face here), yet there was definite flavour. The article that accompanied this recipe claimed that you would swear that you were having chicken broth when you taste it, and I tend to agree with it.

One of the best things about this broth is that I have some left over which I have frozen. I plan to top it up and use it as a base for other creations (like a master stock).

So if you are feeling a bit down or a bit under the weather, give this a go. It is as cheap as chips and it is certain to put a smile on your face...

Garlic Soup with a Poached Egg
Adapted from a recipe found in the New York Times online. The original recipe can be found here
I made this for 2 people with a lot of broth leftover.

2 bulbs of garlic, or around 16 medium sized cloves
2 tbs olive oil
About 12 sage leaves - I used around 16 as my sage leaves are quite small
6 cups of water
2 fresh eggs
2 day old slices of rustic bread, toasted
the smallest grating of Parmesan cheese - this is optional 
salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley,chives for garnish.- I used chives

1. In a deep saucepan or pot over a medium heat, fry the sage and garlic in the oil until fragrant, be careful not to brown them. Season to taste.
2. Fill the pot up with the water and bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for around 20 minutes.
3. Toast your bread, when it is ready, place the bread into 2 serving bowls and lightly grate with the Parmesan.
4. Ladle some broth into a shallow pan so that it reaches about 2 inches from the bottom. Bring the broth in the pan to a gentle simmer.
5. Crack your eggs into the simmering broth in the pan and poach for about 3 minutes until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still runny. I ladled some of the poaching liquid over the eggs to help with the process.
6. When the eggs are done, remove them with a slotted spoon and carefully place them over the pieces of toast.
7. Ladle the broth from the pot over the eggs and serve with the chopped chives.

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