I have wanted to make a garlic soup for YEARS! but what stopped me was the thought of having to peel all those garlic cloves.  Then I read the directions for this soup which says what to do if you are going to have to peel a lot of garlic.  Dump it in a pot of boiling water!!! Leave it in there for about a minute,  then cool it down quickly in cold water to stop it from cooking.  I was amazed at how easy it was.  The soup is really, really good (if you like garlic!!!)

Ingredients:

1. 1 head garlic (about 16 nice fat cloves)
2. 3 tablespoons olive oil
3. 1/4 teaspoon saffron
4. 6 whole black pepper
5. some thyme leaves
6. a bay leaf
7. a few parsley or celery leaves
8. 6 cups of water (some of which may be replaced by light stock)
9. 2 teaspoons salt
10. 3/4 pound waxy potatoes

Directions:

1. Separate the garlic cloves and toss them into a pot of boiling water. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from the boiling water and immediately plunge them into cold to stop cooking them.  The garlic clove sleeves should come off cleanly.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into neat dice about 1/4 inch square
3. Heat the olive oil in a stock pot until fragrant and toss in the saffron, the thyme, the bay leaves, and the parsley and/or celery leaves.
4. Stir for about 1 minute.
5. Add the water, the salt, the peeled garlic cloves, and the potato cubes.
6. Raise the temperature to high until the mixture comes to a boil and then reduce the heat to a high simmer.
7. Simmer the soup for 45 minutes.
8. Remove the pot from the stove and using an immersion blender, blend the soup to a creamy consistency. It will be rather thin.  If a thicker soup is desired, you can increase the potatoes.
9. Taste, correct the seasoning, and serve.