Dorie tells us that this week’s recipe is the French version of chicken noodle soup. Well, at the time that the recipe was announced in late February, I was long overdue for a cure. I had been cruising that middle ground between feeling not quite sick enough to stay home from work and not quite well enough to go in. Every morning after a good night’s sleep I would feel a bit better, and by midway through the day I would feel completely worn out and start thinking about leaving early. By day 7 I gave up and called in sick. That was the day I noticed that the March recipes had been announced and that was when I flipped through the book to read Dorie’s explanation of the restorative properties of this soup. I checked the cupboard and discovered that I was missing garlic and sage. So I dragged myself off the couch and over to the market to buy the missing two ingredients.
Once home, and after a quick nap to recover from the exertion of walking all of 3 blocks to the market and back, I sliced up the garlic (the whole bulb!) and got the soup started. Dorie suggests that the soup could be puréed or left as is. I went with option C and strained out most of the cooked garlic before adding the eggs.
The second the soup was done I poured myself a bowl, slurped it down, and then poured myself another bowl. In that sniffly, achy moment, it was the best soup I had ever tasted.
My husband came home a few hours later and I ever so gently reheated the soup for him in a double broiler. He commented that it was good, but I think he was just being nice to his sick wife, because after only half a bowl I found him in the kitchen prowling around for something else.
So there you have it, this cure-all soup is perfect for sick people or those trying to keep vampires at bay, but perhaps not so exciting for the perfectly healthy. I warned my husband that he should learn how to make it, because I will now be craving it next time I get sick.