Paulchens FoodBlog?!

 Today is “reveal day” of The Secret Recipe Club again and all of us particpants (well honestly only the first third of participants because there are so many others, that  the group has been split into 3 groups with different posting days to make it easier for folks to visit everyone) will reveal which blog we have been assigned to and what we found most interesting to try on our own…

How this all works? well, just click on that logo on the left and you will get to a whole wonderful website that will answer all your questions and more!

Why I joined? Because I think it is a fun way to discover new blogs and – again – step outta my comfort zone a bit by being assigned an unknown blog and having to find a recipe that suits me and tempts me to cook myself.

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This month I was assigned to Edesia’s Notebook and honestly when I was strolling through her blog, I ended up with so many bookmarks I wanted to try that I had a hard time to narrow it down to what I actually wanted to make for SRC.

You know when I get my assignment for SRC I visit the assigned blog and stroll through it once or twice. Then the last time I begin to bookmark those recipes that attract me.  One or two days before I plan the actual cooking I narrow the bookmarked recipes down to one or two possible ones and transfer the ingredients to my shopping list.

This time I had the cooking scheduled for the past weekend and since it have a very autumny weather outside at the moment – like rain and fogg and temperatures around 10°C I decided that I am really really in need of something comforting! When I think of comforting food – besides everything sweet – the first thing that pops into my mind is SOUP. Yes, I confess I am a soup loving kinda girl!

So the decision was easy: It had to be the Roasted Garlic Potato Soup – because when I looked at this creamy comforting picture that accompanied the recipe I was totally taken. ;o)

Yesterday I ate nearly a whole pot of this soup… and for once I nearly didn’t even change the recipe too much it was just perfect the way it was!

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Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

Ingredients:
5 whole heads garlic (I used 6-7 chinese garlic)
2 bacon slices, diced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced carrot
2 lbs. baking potato, finely diced (about 6 cups)
3 cups low-salt chicken broth (I used my home made one)
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sweet curry powder (I omitted this one because I can’t eat curry)
1 bay leaf
1 cup 2% milk (I added sour cream because I had some left overs)
¼ cup fresh thyme, chopped

Directions: 

1. Drizzle the garlic with a little olive oil and place each one individually on a square of foil and loosely wrap.
2. Place foil packs in the oven and roast until garlic is completely tender, about half an hour (chinese garlic is way smaller so you need less time until they are tender). 
3.  Remove from oven; let cool enough to handle, then squeeze all of the garlic pulp out of the skins.  Place them in a small bowl and set aside.
4. Cook bacon in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until crisp. Add onion and carrot, and sauté 5 minutes.
5. Add potato, broth, salt, and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15-20 minutes or until potato is tender; remove bay leaf.
6. Combine garlic pulp and 2 cups potato mixture in a blender or food processor (I used my ricer because I do not like the cooked potatos to be handled in a food processor I always find it makes them a “slimy”), and process until smooth. Return purée to pan; stir in milk (and/or sour cream), and cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. (make sure that your soup does not boil otherwise your milk will curdle…)
7. Remove from heat, and stir in chopped thyme.

Verdict: I have to say I loved this soup. It was bound to be a winner for me as it has two of my favorite ingredients in it: potatos and garlic.
I think the roasted garlic gave an extra nice touch to the soup. Next time I will also bake/roast the potatos in foil along with the garlic – should give it an extra nice mouth feeling!

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