44-Clove Garlic Soup

If you enjoy garlic, you MUST try this soup. If you don’t enjoy garlic you should try this soup anyway, because it’ll make a convert out of you. Seriously, this is an amazing soup, and once I’d taken my first sip I immediately decided that this was one to add to my recipe rotation. Yes, it uses a lot (a whole lot) of garlic, but the flavor isn’t overpowering– it’s sweet, slightly smoky, creamy, velvety, and really just perfect. Did I mention you needed to try this soup? You need to try this soup.

It starts off with a ton of roasted garlic, then you add a bunch of onions and raw garlic, and simmer it all together to let the flavors meld. Fresh thyme adds another dimension of flavor, cream gives it a bit more body, and the last-minute squeeze of lemon keeps it from being cloying. I served mine with some cheese toast, but a thick slice of plain sourdough bread would also be a great accompaniment. Or salad, I guess you could have salad if you insist on something green…

Reader’s Digest(ibles): Almanzo’s Fried Apples n’ Onions

Sticking with the classics, my next trip down memory lane is Almanzo Wilder’s fried apples n’ onions from Farmer Boy. This book is seriously FULL of good eating– I came across a website that quoted every meal he ate in the book, and was drooling by the end of it. It all sounded amazing, but it’s too hot this summer to be roasting spare-ribs and cooking baked beans with salt pork, so I decided to go with something simpler: fried apples n’ onions.

This dish is just what it’s named– apples and onions, fried together. I don’t understand why most recipes online make it so sweet, adding tons of brown sugar and cooking until the apples and onions turn into mush. This is not apple pie we’re talking about here, this is a side dish, and Almanzo states in the book that he ate four helpings in one meal! If it were sweet I’m not sure that even I (with my notorious sweet tooth) would’ve been able to eat that much…