Beer AND Cheese Soup

[Trixxee]

This recipe was asked about in the TGIF dinner thread. Here you go!

Sweat in 5 T. Unsalted Butter:
1 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/2 cup carrot, minced

Combine; Stir in:
5 T. all-purpose flour
1 t. paprika
1 t. dry mustard

Add:
1 cup beer (such as lager)
3 cups chicken broth
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. Tabasco

Whisk in:
1 cup whole milk
1 lb. sharp cheddar, grated
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

Stir in; Season with:
2 T. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Salt to taste


Sweat onion, celery and carrot in butter in a large pot over medium low heat for 10 minutes.

Combine flour, paprika, and dry mustard in a bowl, then stir into vegetable mixture. Increase heat to medium and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring often.

Add beer and simmer until thickened. Add broth, worcestershire and tabasco, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and heat 5 minutes.

Whisk in milk and both cheeses, stirring constantly until smooth. Do not boil or the soup may curdle.

Stir in parsley and season with salt.

[labradors]

Okay. This could work. For a minute, I thought this was about using "beer cheese." For those who have never heard of it, here's a story from my childhood that will give you an idea of the smell of beer cheese.

My paternal grandparents were visiting, and my mother and grandmother were starting to prepare food for the evening. One of the things my mother had gotten to use with appetizers was some beer cheese. She had taken it out, sliced it, and arranged it on a plate. Just at that time, I went into the kitchen from the living room, and my grandmother (who had not been aware of the cheese) just happened to turn around at that time. As she did, her nose scrunched up from having sensed something pungent, and she asked, "Robbie, did you just come in from cleaning the kennel? Have you checked your shoes?"

Of course, I HADN'T been out cleaning the kennels, and there was nothing wrong with my shoes, nor my hygiene. Instead, my mom told her about the cheese she had just prepared, and the two of them had a good laugh for quite a while.

So, you could imagine what my initial impression of "Beer Cheese Soup" was! LOL!

[Trixxee]

ACK! I fixed the title.

[Harborwitch]

Thank you!!! Fortunately we are late eaters so this stands a pretty good chance of being adapted for dinner tonight.

Labs I used to love coming home from work to have a Carling Black Label (hey, I was only 18 & Dad bought it for me) and Beer Kasse for dinner. Yum.

[Harborwitch]

Trixee, thanks again for posting this. I made a few changes to fit what I had in mind and Bob gave it rave reviews. Here are the changes:

Sweat in 5 T. Unsalted Butter:
1 cup onion, minced
1 cup celery, minced

Combine; Stir in:
5 T. all-purpose flour
1 t. paprika
1 t. dry mustard

Add:
4 cups beer based stock reserved from cooking corned beef
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. Horseradish
1 T. Coarse grained mustard
Whisk in:
1 cup whole milk
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar, grated
1/2 lb. swiss cheese, grated
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

When the soup has thickened add the leftovers from the corned beef: I had
1 carrot in large dice
1 1/2 yukon gold potato in large dice
1/2 turnip in large dice
1 small wedge of cabbage cut into chunks
2 cups corned beef in large dice.

Stir in; Season with:
Fresh ground pepper
Caraway seeds to taste

This was somewhere between a great cheese soup and a Reuben sandwich.

[Trixxee]

You are very welcome! Your adaption sounds heavenly. And I've got a corned beef on the stove as we speak.