I tried making this once when I lived in Chicago. Notice that I haven’t attempted it again until now, over a year later. Everything was going great, until I had to add the beer. Of course I wanted to use a craft beer and I’ve put this memory so far out of my mind that I can’t even remember what kind it was. All I remember is that the bottle was not a twist off and I couldn’t get the bottle open. I was struggling with it forever and placed it on my counter for leverage, I tried to pop the lid with all my might and it slipped right out from under me and shot across the kitchen. I picked it up, sat it down, glad it was open and didn’t break. As I’m cleaning up the minor spill, I knocked the entire open bottle over. Not only did I knock it over, I knocked it right onto my laptop.
My fiance tells me that liquids and computers DON’T mix, so I was frantically trying to clean it up so I wouldn’t have to tell him what I’d done. As I’m finally getting the mess under control, I smell something burning. Of course, my creamy cheese soup was now a brown, sticky mess burnt to the bottom of my pan.
Fast forward to December 2014 and it was time to try again. So, finally, here is the finished product.
Beer Cheese Soup Recipe:
*Serves 4
4 Tablespoons butter
1 celery stalk – diced
1 carrot – peeled and diced
1 jalapeno pepper – seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic – minced
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk (or heavy cream if you want to go for it, which I did)
12 oz. bottle of pale beer – I used a pale ale
12 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground mustard
Salt
Black Pepper
In a saucepan, melt your butter on medium heat and add your celery, carrot, jalapeno and garlic.
Let them cook until they get tender, 6-7 minutes.
Add your chicken broth and simmer until it has reduced by about half, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle your flour over the veggies and cook on medium-low heat until the flour is no longer bright white and becomes a thick paste, about a minute.
Pour in your beer and milk or cream and stir constantly until everything thickens, about 10 minutes.
Once it’s thickened, add in your cheese and stir until melted.
Add your spices and stir.
Remove the soup from heat and let it stand for 10 minutes to cool some.
Ladle your soup into a food processor with the spout open or a blender with the lid cracked. You want air in the soup, do not create a vacuum with the lid. You’ll want to do this in stages because you don’t want your blender any more than half full if you’re blending hot liquid.
Once you blend some of the soup smooth, pour it into a serving bowl (or another pot) and repeat until all of your soup is blended and creamy.
Top with popcorn. Or more jalapenos. Or extra cheese. Or bacon. Or croutons. Or all of the above. I love soup toppings!
While I was writing this, I started thinking of a few other times I had chaos in the kitchen. Ben still reminds me of the time I threw a spatula clear across the room. I know I’ve wasted so much time and money on food that ends up being a complete disaster. At the time, I am just miserable. I get mad at myself, I feel like an idiot with no cooking skills, but you know what? Who cares. Everyone makes mistakes. You cannot learn without practice. I bet Ina Garten has burned something. At least once in her life. Okay, maybe not Ina, but I bet some other amazing cook has. It happens. It is not the end of the world and you learn from your mistakes, learn to control your temper and keep on cooking. All the mess ups will be worth it when you finally sit down to a perfect bowl of beer cheese soup.