Soup Recipe
Emmett's "I've lived in the land of beer and cheddar for three months now and haven't had cheddar-beer soup once" cheddar-beer soup recipe
All measures are very approximate. I prefer to eyeball everything.
Serve garnished with fresh ground pepper, preferably with a crusty loaf on the side.
Notes:
Beer: Different qualities of beer will make different styles of soup. Cheaper, thinner beers will generally make a milder soup than rich, dark brews.
Cream: Creams are a bit different in England than the US. I used something called "double cream", which is cream condensed into a solid form (more solid than sour cream, which doesn't exist in the same form here). Use anything from half and half to heavy cream in the US, but know that the thinner the cream, the thinner and less rich the soup.
Cheese: A good quality cheddar is important for this. Low quality cheddars like Tillamook or other American-style "smooth, rubbery" cheddars won't work nearly as well. Low quality UK/Irish cheddars are probably fine. The texture should be crumbly rather than rubbery. Eating a piece alone (no ritz, no nothing) should be a pleasant and addictive experience, rather than a pasty chore (as with most American cheddars).
All measures are very approximate. I prefer to eyeball everything.
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- a few teaspoons of grated onion
- 1 to 1.5 litres of vegetable stock (or nonvegetarian if you prefer)
- 2 tsp malt vinegar
- dash of salt
- few dashes of black pepper
- pinch of cayenne
- 12oz/350ml beer (see note below)
- 4-8oz heavy cream (see note below)
- 10-16oz/300-450g GOOD sharp cheddar cheese (see note below), grated
- (optional) 2 potatoes, cubed small and boiled in the stock
- In a large saucepan or wok, melt the butter.
- Mix in enough flour while cooking over medium-low heat until you have something that's not quite liquid, not doughy either, but very smooth.
- Stir in the garlic, onion, vinegar, salt, pepper and cayenne while still cooking.
- Turn up the heat to medium right before you start the next step.
- In increments, stir the stock into the flour mixture. It may seem like it wants to form something like soup and dumplings at first, but if you stir it enough, it will form an increasingly thinner paste, finally becoming a nice soup base. Add the potatoes now if you're using them.
- Stir in the beer and cream.
- Cook until it becomes a bit thickened, stirring frequently. You want it thick without being actually gloppy.
- Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cheese until it's melted. Do not return to a boil after you add the cheese!
Serve garnished with fresh ground pepper, preferably with a crusty loaf on the side.
Notes:
Beer: Different qualities of beer will make different styles of soup. Cheaper, thinner beers will generally make a milder soup than rich, dark brews.
Cream: Creams are a bit different in England than the US. I used something called "double cream", which is cream condensed into a solid form (more solid than sour cream, which doesn't exist in the same form here). Use anything from half and half to heavy cream in the US, but know that the thinner the cream, the thinner and less rich the soup.
Cheese: A good quality cheddar is important for this. Low quality cheddars like Tillamook or other American-style "smooth, rubbery" cheddars won't work nearly as well. Low quality UK/Irish cheddars are probably fine. The texture should be crumbly rather than rubbery. Eating a piece alone (no ritz, no nothing) should be a pleasant and addictive experience, rather than a pasty chore (as with most American cheddars).