Garlic Saffron Soup

I don't know about you, but I feel it's been awhile since I blogged about soup.

I love this soup.  I first made it in the fall of 2003, back when I could buy eggs at the grocery store without having a panic attack.  (Yes, I know, it's crazy - but I have to choose between organic-fed chicken eggs and vegetarian-fed chicken eggs?  That is also crazy.)  Since then, I've thought about it more than I care to admit.

I think it is in part because I absolutely love saffron.

The most disappointing thing about this recipe is that you first toast bread, and then when it is baking it gets all soggy.  This is probably because i don't use thick-cut french bread, but whole grain bread.

Here is the recipe:

4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
2 T olive oil
4 slices french bread (or 2 slices whole wheat, halved)
1 T paprika
1/4 t cumin
pinch of saffron
4 cups vegetable broth
4 eggs

Heat the olive oil, then brown the garlic on each side and remove.
Toast the bread in the oil and remove.
Add the paprika to the oil and stir for a minute.
Turn the oven to 450.
Add the other spices and vegetable broth, and cook for awhile, stirring, so the saffron has time to make it's way into deliciousness.  (about 10 minutes?)
Divide the soup into four bowls.  Crack an egg into each bowl, and top with the bread.  Bake for a few minutes, until eggs are set.

CONFESSION(s):
The recipe says 3-4 minutes, but I want my eggs actually cooked.  So I let them set longer.  Like... not quite a half hour.  But maybe 10 minutes.  I check them.  When the yolk doesn't look like it did when it went in the bowl, I know it's ready.
I forgot this, because I haven't made this in like 8 years, but I have found it works better to add the bread AFTER it bakes, because otherwise it just gets soggy, and what was the point of frying it in oil in the first place?

YUM.