44-Clove Garlic (and Chicken) Soup

The news segment filmed on Saturday. A reporter, a camera operator, and a producer came to the church kitchen and watched twenty girls cook. The segment was supposed to be about the program, but the reporter — a young Black woman named Kesha, maybe twenty-eight — watched Destiny teach a new girl how to make grits and said, "This isn't a cooking class. This is a movement." She interviewed me. On camera. In the church kitchen. I wore the green blouse. I talked about Mama. I talked about the Folgers can. I talked about the girls and the table and the belief that cooking is power. I cried once, briefly, when Kesha asked, "What would your mother say about this?" I said, "She would say: more garlic." Kesha laughed. The camera kept rolling. The segment will air next week.

Marcus's 8th grade graduation is Friday. The end of middle school. The end of an era. He has grown six inches since 6th grade. His voice changed somewhere between debate tournaments and I didn't notice until one day I called from another room and the voice that answered was a man's voice and I stood in the hallway and stared at the wall because my baby has a man's voice and time doesn't ask permission before taking your children and turning them into people.

Terrell is coming to the graduation. He confirmed Wednesday. He will sit in the gymnasium and watch his son graduate and he will take credit for nothing and deserve credit for nothing but he will be there and Marcus asked him to be there and Marcus's asking is what matters. I said, "Your father and Derek will both be there." Marcus said, "That's fine." He said it casually. Fourteen years old and he has learned to hold his two fathers in separate hands and give each one what they deserve: one gets proximity, one gets presence. One is the father who left. One is the man who stayed. Marcus knows the difference. He's always known.

Made a pre-graduation dinner: Marcus's choice. He chose steak (of course) and MY chicken tortilla soup as a starter and Jasmine's cornbread and, for dessert, Mama's pound cake. He curated a menu from four cooks: his mother, his sister, his grandmother, and himself (the steak is his to season now — I taught him the cast-iron method and he has surpassed me). Four cooks at one table. The graduation dinner tasted like a family tree.

When Kesha asked what Mama would say about all of this and I answered “more garlic,” I was only half joking — Mama put garlic in everything, and she was never wrong. The starter I made for Marcus’s graduation dinner was inspired by that same conviction: if something is worth making, it is worth making with intention, and forty-four cloves of garlic is intention in its most honest form. This is the soup that opened the meal, the one that told everyone at the table they were somewhere special.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

44 cloves garlic (about 3 heads), separated — 30 left whole, 14 roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 can (15 oz) white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving
Crusty bread or cornbread, for serving

Instructions

Roast the whole garlic cloves. Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss the 30 whole cloves in 1 tablespoon olive oil, wrap tightly in foil, and roast for 25–30 minutes until golden and completely soft. Set aside.
Sauté the aromatics. In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat remaining olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until softened. Add the 14 chopped raw garlic cloves and cook 2 minutes more, until fragrant.
Season and bloom the spices. Stir in thyme, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. Cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly, to bloom the spices into the oil.
Build the broth. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken thighs whole — submerge them fully in the broth.
Simmer the chicken. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 18–22 minutes, until chicken is cooked through (165°F internal). Remove chicken and shred with two forks, then return to pot.
Add roasted garlic and beans. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves directly into the pot — they will slide right out of their skins. Stir in the cannellini beans. Use the back of a spoon to crush a few roasted cloves against the pot wall to thicken the broth slightly.
Finish and adjust. Simmer 5 more minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed — and if you hear Mama in the back of your head, add a little more garlic. Serve hot, topped with fresh parsley, with cornbread on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

44-Clove Garlic (and Chicken) Soup — Mama Would Say More Garlic