Poached Garlic Soup

This comes from the cookbook What's Cooking America? by Linda Stradley & Andra Cook. This soup is delicious - and the accompanying garlic bread is to die for. Note: 30 cloves may sound like a lot of garlic, but poaching it mellows it out quite a bit and the resulting flavor is soft and complex. Hope you enjoy!

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 30  garlic cloves, peeled
• 7  cups chicken broth, divided
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1⁄2 cup  diced  white onion
• 8  small new potatoes, peeled, diced, and reserved in cold water
•  salt and pepper
• 1  cup heavy cream
• 1  cup milk
• 3  tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
• 6  slices  sourdough bread, thinly sliced and lightly toasted
• 6  tablespoons butter

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine garlic cloves and 3 cups of chicken broth; bring to boil and poach 15 minutes or until soft. Remove garlic cloves to a small bowl and mash with a fork; set aside for use in making Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread. Cook and reduce chicken broth to a glaze; remove from heat and set aside.
2. In a large soup pot over low heat, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add onion and saute until soft. Drain potatoes; stir into butter and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add 4 cups chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. Remove from heat and let cool 10-15 minutes.
3. In a food processor (or blender, if vented or if liquid is completely cooled - warning: putting hot liquids in airtight blender will cause 'explosion'), puree soup; return to soup pot. Add garlic-chicken glaze; stir until well blended. Stir in heavy cream, milk, salt, pepper; cook over low heat another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese.
4. To make Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread: Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, combine mashed garlic cloves and the 6 tablespoons of room temp butter until well blended. Spread garlic mixture evenly over top of the bread slices. When ready to serve, place under broiler for a few minutes until top is lightly browned and bubbly.