Garlic Soup La Mancha style with hint of Falkirk

I never wanted this to be a recipe blog but here I go again. Over the past few years I have developed quite a passion for cooking (and eating) and in particular cooking (or attempting) foods for different countries cause let’s face it and be brutally honest, Scottish cuisine can be quite bland at time, not all the time but you don’t surprise dinner guests serving mince and tatties and food should be a talking point too. I was watching Rick Stein on TV touring the regions of Spain from the comfort of my sofa and when he was in La Mancha (Don Quixote country) and watched him make Garlic Soup. Rick describes it as …. “If I were to describe this soup as hot stock with fried garlic, grilled bread and a poached egg, it would sound rather dull, but the fact that it is made all over Spain and is at the very heart of the cooking of Castilla-La Mancha tells you there’s something magical about this combination.”…..and who am I sitting on my sofa in Falkirk to disagree. Here we go….in the Falkirk kitchen … Ingredients As much garlic as your family, friends and co-workers will let you get away with. Try at least a whole head, each clove very thinly sliced. I use lots and smoked garlic which I but from Morrisons at 60p a head. A kettle full of boiled water 3 chicken stock cubes, I particularly like Knorr. Olive oil Pimenton picante (smoked hot Spanish paprika) but I use Smoked Paprika from Schwartz but I now have some of the real Spanish stuff from a friend. Good quality thickly sliced white bread; I use my own bread which I have baked. Crusty white. Gently fry the garlic in a very decent glug of olive oil in a saucepan until lightly golden, but no darker or they will taste bitter. Crumble the stock cubes into the pan and stir until they’ve melted. Add a freshly boiled kettle of water and bring to a simmer. Add the pimenton to taste – start with 1tsp and keep going if you fancy it. I have quite a bit in mine. Turn off the heat and crack an egg into the pan. You can do this into a ladle full of the liquid – this way the egg doesn’t touch the pan base and the yolk stays runny. Basically poaching the egg in the mixture. Always use the very fresh quality free range you can get. I duck egg is super and the white a little firmer. Grill a slice of bread. Tear and place at the bottom of a bowl. Once the egg is cooked, ladle it and some liquid over the bread, until your bowl is full. Devour and bask in its healing qualities. Consume the remaining broth during the rest of the evening, slurping appreciatively straight from the bowl or from a mug. It’s great for the immune system so very good if you have a cold.