Country Style Garlic Soup with Poached Egg

This soup was one of my father’s favorites and we shared it often in late August when the garlic in my Hamptons garden was fragrant and flavorful and the sage irresistible. It was our go-to breakfast on many Sunday mornings and just setting the bowl in front of my dad would cause a broad smile to spread across his face as he enjoyed the aroma’s he loved – the co-mingling of garlic and sage. He was a proponent of garlic’s medicinal properties and believed in its ability to boost the immune system which is why this soup always made its way back to my table right about this time of year, mid-December. My parents would arrive here in Florida for the season, and first on the agenda was a trip to the green market where we would pick up the best garlic, a crusty baguette, farm-fresh eggs and a sage plant for my garden. Mom, Dad and I would make one final stop for coffee, and with our to-go cups in hand head home for a late breakfast.  

I can always rely on this soup to boost my mood and I love that it requires only a handful of ingredients, most of which will already be on hand at my house or in my herb garden.  When the garlic is fresh and fragrant I make it as I’ve set out here with water rather than stock, giving the garlic the duty of flavoring the broth. When working with less fragrant garlic I cook the soup with ½ water and ½ chicken stock. The swirling technique you’ll see in the recipe is one I learned in the South of France and will help prevent the egg white from feathering out into the pan.  I use this method when I’m poaching a few eggs and serving the soup right away.  For bigger crowds, I poach the eggs, move them to an ice bath and refrigerate them until I’m ready to serve. Simply reheat them in the warm garlic broth before serving.

My dad had favorites – here it was certainly the garlic and the eggs, but I love the fragrance of sage.  Oftentimes I would put a few sprigs in our napkin rings and delight in the stories and jokes it would evoke. Dad would slide the sage out and ask “are you in need of some sage advice?” He would tell me how sage was a memory enhancer and anti-inflammatory, and then with a mischievous grin promptly tuck a sprig behind his ear and drop one into his bowl. He’d take his first spoonful of soup, savoring the flavors, then in his best “female voice” with his head cocked to one side – to show off his hair accessory – he’d say “no more bread for me, I’m watching my girlish figure.”

Yield: Serves 4