The good Lord is really beginning to show his bounty in these parts.  Trips to our farmers’ markets no longer target just one or two acts, punctuated by some hydroponic greens.  Those treasured early seasons – rhubarb, asparagus, strawberries – have come and gone but now we get a real show.  There are those precious, and pricey, little raspberries, and blueberries, and sweet corn (yay!).  The greens are local now, and luscious.  But one of the biggest explosions has been on the allium front.  I just wrote about the monster shallots I encountered (1).  But the whole family’s like that.  Heads of garlic you could chuck like a weapon, green onions that look like leeks, leeks like oh well, and onions of every stripe.  Though those grapefruit size numbers are nice, the little purple bulbs that still have their shoots are awfully appealing.  I realized that whenever I’d made my 5-lily soup in the past, I’ve relied on grocery store ingredients, as those items tend to be available year ‘round.  But fresh, local, dontcha know! Can’t beat that! As I surveyed the bounty I hauled home, I realized it wasn’t going to fit into my old recipe.  Adjustments were in order, and they were made!

First, see here what I had to work with:

Starting at the bottom and going clockwise, there’s the garlics.   That’s a real baseball, just for comparison.  It did not go into the soup.  Green onions next, shallots in the middle, then onions of several sorts.  Smaller purple bulbs at top, then large red and large white.  Leeks to the side.  They’re often bigger in the grocery store off-season but these were fine and still slightly bigger than the green onions.

You roast the garlic, then choppy, choppy everything else.  Looks mighty nice in the pot.

After simmering in stock, it has to cool to room temperature so you can buzz it smooth in the Cuisinart, blend in the cream, heat and eat!

So, here’s the recipe.  Realize how much garlic is in this, so respect social considerations.

Reference

1.     Ike B.  that shal-lot´!  WordPress 7/24/23.  https://theviewfromharbal.com/2023/07/24/that-shal-lot/