Garlic & Potato Soup With Oregano
It’s been a very cold start to April this year, with temperatures still hanging below freezing in Orangeville, ON. I was thinking of what I could make that would be “warming” when I was reminded of Kiriaki telling me about a soup she had while on one of her travels – garlic soup. Apparently, there were 24 cloves of garlic in the soup, but she told me it was delicious! I share the same tastes with Kiriaki and I do love garlic! And I have plenty of it here.
So I decided to come up with my own concoction of a garlic soup. I have to admit that I don’t really follow a recipe exactly, and when I’m making my own concoctions, I am not precisely measuring anything either. I can say that it turned out delicious! I actually prepared this over two days, which might become clear as you read on. I had two bowls the first day, with still quite a good amount left over, and made some changes the next day.
Approximate Ingredients Of Garlic With Greek Oregano Soup:
Several tablespoons of Greek olive oil
24 cloves of garlic
2 cups of water
1 Tablespoon KirIan dried Greek oregano
1 medium size onion
900 ml Chicken stock
90 grams (one pouch) instant mashed potatoes (added the second day)
Chopped green onions (added the second day).
Making Garlic Soup -1st Day
I took 14 of the peeled but whole garlic cloves and put them in a glass baking dish. Drizzled the Greek olive oil over them and put in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about 25 minutes.
The remaining 10 garlic cloves were grated. I let them sit for about half an hour exposed to the air (See garlic health tip below).
While the garlic cloves were roasting, I heated up olive oil in a large pot on the stove. The onion was chopped and added to the olive oil to gently sautee.
After 25 minutes, the roasted garlic was added to the pot.
Grated garlic cloves were then added to the onion and olive oil in the pot.
Oregano and 2 cups of water along with the chicken stock were added to the pot.
This was allowed to simmer for about 30 minutes, after which I could not stand waiting any longer! The aroma was so good (I love the smell of garlic cooking), I just had to try it. I had two bowls – and the taste was awesome, but I realized that those chunky roasted garlic cloves could have used some “blending” into the soup. I also though that the soup could use some thickening as well, but I waited for the next day to do that.
Second Day Of Garlic Soup
Today was another below freezing and windy day. After the delivery of KirIan Greek Oregano to Guelph, I decided to take out a 90-gram pouch of instant mashed potatoes that I had, to thicken up the soup a bit. IT needed a bit more water, however (not much – maybe half a cup). I heated the soup on medium until it warmed up, and then used an immersion blender to blend it all together.
Sliced green onions were sprinkled over the top, and a beautiful tasty “warming” soup was enjoyed! The Greek oregano helped it “sparkle.” Some freshly ground black pepper was also added.
UpdateA splash of balsamic vinegar just made this soup incredible! Add that to yours, as well.
What About All That Garlic?
You might think that so many cloves of garlic would be totally overpowering, but it was not. Obviously, it was very “garlicky” but in a good way. Don’t be afraid – go ahead and try this yourself!
Garlic Soup The Next Time
The next time I try this, I am thinking of adding shredded Dubliner cheese. In fact, I’m thinking of trying this with a variety of different shredded cheeses and experimenting. Also, a touch of lemon juice might also enhance the taste.
Garlic Health Tip Bonus
Many people know that garlic can have many health benefits, but are unaware that cooking reduces them significantly – unless you do one thing. But first, let’s discuss one of the ways garlic is very healthy:
Although it does not actually contain them, compounds called “allicins” are formed when raw garlic is exposed to the air. When you cook garlic immediately after chopping, shredding, crushing, or however you decide to prepare it, there is not enough time for these allicins to develop.
Allicin compounds have been shown to be anti-bacterial and may even be able to prevent or help fight the common cold virus. More research is needed on this, but one scientific paper suggests that it showed some effect in cold virus prevention.
So your bonus health tip for using garlic is to let it sit for 20 to 40 minutes before you add it to whatever you are cooking. This allows the allicins to develop with exposure to the air, and you’ll get the health benefits, if indeed they exist.
But don’t eat this just for the healt benefits of both the garlic and Greek oregano! Enjoy it for it’s warming effects, the aroma of it cooking in your kitchen, and for the wonderful taste it imparts to your tonge! Kali orexi!
REFERENCES
Lissiman, E; Bhasale, AL; Cohen, M (11 November 2014). “Garlic for the common cold”. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.