When I was working at Calhoun's Brewery in Harrisonburg we had three soups on the menu. Vegetarian Black Bean, Chili Con Carne, and Beer and Cheese Soup. I had never had this soup prior to that experience, and when made properly, it's awesome. It's a simple soup to make, really a set and forget thing, then puree at the end. This recipe is similar to the one I used to make then, just tweaked out a bit to make it more stable and less likely to break.
A couple of items of note with this soup. If you don't like beer, you will not like this soup. Even if you like beer, you need to use a milder flavored one or else when it cooks down, the flavors of the beer in the soup are overwhelming. The cheese base is a perfect vehicle for highlighting the beer, just make sure you use a blonde or amber beer that isn't too bitter or full of hops. Even the Little Sumpin' I used, though not super strong, was too much for some of the people I made this soup for.
When I garnished this soup I used pickled peppers and scallions, though to be fair almost anything would work. Croutons or crackers would also complement the soup with a great texture balance for the soup.
Ingredients
Beer, blonde ale 36 oz
Butter 1/2 lb
Flour 3/4 cup
Cheddar, shredded 1 lb
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Velveeta, block 14 oz
Potatoes, peeled, chopped 4 ea
Onion, chopped 2 ea
Worcestershire splash
Avenue Spice 1 T
Hot sauce 1 tsp
Salt and pepper to taste
Bay Leaves 2 ea
Garnish
Pickled peppers, scallions, crackers
Method of Procedure
Saute your onions with butter while stirring until softened, about 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add your bay leaves, Avenue Spice, and potatoes (I used Yukon gold, but any white or yellow potato will work) and continue to cook for another 5 minutes while stirring.
Add your flour and continue to cook while stirring to make a blonde roux with the vegetables.
Add your beer, chicken stock, hot sauce, and Worcestershire to the roux coated mixture and stir to incorporate. Simmer for 2 hours, until the potatoes are soft enough to blend (you can short the time if the potatoes are done, I find the flavor it better if it cooks longer).
Once the potatoes are cooked, remove from heat and blend all of the soup. After blended pour though a sieve or colander and return to heat.
Bring back to a simmer and add the Velveeta in small pieces, using a stick blender puree the soup and make sure the cheese is properly melted.
Add the shredded cheddar and continue to blend until completely smooth.
Season to your liking with salt and pepper.
Garnish and serve.
Comments