12:57 AM 3/20/98
rfc

A recipe.  Good anytime, but especially when you have a cold.

2 quarts chicken stock; or half chicken, half beef
1 bay leaf
1 cup peeled garlic toes (I use almost twice that much)
1.5 cups coarsely chopped onion
2 tablespoonfuls Maggi (sp?) or soy sauce
2 large potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoonful hot Hungarian paprika (optional, but good)*

Bring stock to boil, add bay leaf.  Immediately reduce heat to
simmer, remove bay leaf after 15 minutes simmering.

Add garlic, onion and potatoes, simmer in stock until all are
soft, 45 minutes to an hour.  At this point, if you want your
soup to have a creamy texture, strain out the vegetables and
puree them.  Return the puree to the stock, add remaining
ingredients and simmer for another 20 minutes.  

If you prefer a clearer soup, just add the remaining ingredients
and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer.

This is wonderful with oven-toasted dark bread, topped with a
swiss cheese-mustard spread.

*The paprika adds some color to the broth, in addition to flavor.
Another name for this soup--with paprika--is Stinking Rose soup.
I used to work in a restaurant with a woman from Budapest, from
whom I got the recipe.

Irina liked tiny potato dumplings in the clear soup.  She said
her mother served the family the pureed soup whenever anyone had
a cold or the flu.

Martha