Beer-Cheddar Soup (7.164 on a scale of 10)

Cooking Light – Nov. 2007, pg. 264

This recipe has the potential to be awesome with a little more tweaking. Still, it was really good – Brendan kept coming over and eating out of the pot before it was finished like the Neanderthal heathen he is.

Avoid using dark beer, which could make the soup too bitter.  (I do not agree with this statement as there are plenty – PLENTY – of sweeter darker beers, especially lagers that this soup can handle. I used Negra Modelo which has great balance for cooking in chilis and soups. This recipe writer must not know their beers or at least cooking with beer. I cook with beer all the time as anyone who knows me would expect. chuckle)

• 10 oz sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• cooking spray
• 2 C chopped onion
• 2 garlic clove, minced (I used 4 or 5)
• 4 C chicken broth
• 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 2 C reduced-fat milk
• 1 1/4 C shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon bl. pepper
• 1/4 C chopped fresh chives

1. Preheat oven to 450°
2. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a jelly0roll pan; coat bread cubes with cooking spray. Bake for 10 min. or until toasted. Set aside.
3. Heat a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 min. Stir in beer; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 min. or until onion is very tender.
4. Place beer mixture and 1 C broth in a blender. remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan. Stir in remaining 3 cups broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
5. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1 C milk, stirring witha  whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and remaining 1 C mil to pan; cook 12 min. or until slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat. Gradually add cheese, stirring until smooth. Stir in pepper. Serve with bread cubes and chives. Yield: 12 servings.

This recipe is very versatile. You could throw broccoli or spinach or potatoes or anything in and serve it in little sourdough bread bowls and be cute. I’m going to experiment with the leftovers and add various veggies and I bet it’ll be even better. I did end up adding more cheese for more flavor – and salt, garlic pwdr and more pepper. Also, I added little chopped onions at the end as I do with everything. Oh – I cut out all of step 4 and used an immersion blender – hell if I’m going to go to the effort of pouring everything into a blender and back into a pot, exponentially increasing the busi-ness and dish-washing of this recipe.

Brendan really enjoyed this with slices of un-toasted sourdough bread because he doesn’t like really crunchy bread. What a freak.  

And here’s the pic – just for you, Leroy, just for you!