Chef Charlie Owen Cooks Out of the Box!

As a chef I am constantly challenged to develop new and interesting uses for products. As a dad, I sometimes just need to get a meal on the table fast. On occasion its those thrown together meals that turn out the most memorable. This was one of those dishes.

Since its still early, the spring garlic is quite sweet and mild so you can use a lot with out fear of overkill.

I wanted the garlic to be very evident in this soup there for all the other veggies were small diced to speed their cooking while leaving enough texture in the garlic.
 
Serves 6-8
 
Local ingredients
 
Green garlic-                            3 stalks
JD’s 2% milk-                            3 cups
Italian sausage                            1 pound
Hard Stale Bluedog Baguette            1/2 each
Kenny’s Norwood                    4 ounces or more
Flat leaf parsley -chopped          2 tablespoons
 
Other Ingredients
 
Russet potatoes                        2 pounds
Celery                                       2 stalks
carrot                                         2 each
Chicken broth                            3 qt
Salt and pepper
Olive oil                                    2 tablespoons
 
 
-Prepare green garlic by chopping off the top (dark green)
save tops for flavoring other dishes
-after washing, cut remaining stalks in half long way, then cut half circles 1/8 inch thick
-begin browning the sausage in a saute pan over medium heat
-begin sweating the garlic in the olive oil in a soup pot over low heat, season with a pinch of salt now
-while those two pans are working cut the rest of your veggies in a 1/2″ dice or smaller
-when the garlic looks translucent (5 minutes) add all other veggies and continue to sweat for a couple more minutes
-Add milk and broth to the pot and turn heat to high.
-drain fat from cooked sausage and pat dry.
-when soup boils, add sausage and reduce heat to a simmer
-after 15 minutes, check potatoes for doneness. when potatoes are fork tender, remove soup from heat.
-taste and season with salt and pepper, add parsley and crumbled stale baguette now.
-Let the bread sit in the soup to soften for 5 minutes before serving.
- top individual servings with grated norwood
 
 
Note: if you don’t have stale bread, skip that step and serve with fresh baguette but try this if you ever do have a stale one- I think its the best part of the soup.
 
 
Enjoy!
Charlie