Yesterday I was hungry and thinking about what to make for dinner when I happened to read a tweet about beer, potato, cheese soup. Mmmmm. That got me thinking. Then she tweeted something about making a roux. My wheels were turning even more. This kind of depended upon whether my hubby was going to go to the store to get more milk. I was thinking I would be using milk for a creamy soup. But then as I began compiling ingredients, I thought, I don’t need milk. Then I thought, yes I do, no I don’t, yes, I do . . . . so you can’t even imagine what the heck was going on in the kitchen. I was silently chanting, “Don’t come in. Don’t come in. Don’t come in.” I am not sure, but I think when I make a huge mess in the kitchen it gives my husband anxiety . . . and it looked like a tornado went through. I didn’t know what I was doing so my plans kept changing along with the pot/pan I was using. My original idea was sound . . . I think, but I wasn’t certain about amounts so I didn’t make enough – base, let’s call it. So in the middle I had to make another batch. But I think if I would have stuck to the doubling of the batch I would have been ok. Because once I added the second portion it was yummy. So I am going to tell you what the recipe would be like had I executed it properly.
I didn’t like the recipes I was finding online because one of the ingredients was celery . . . I know I could leave it out . . . and I would have, but that just turns me off. In addition, I had @KrisColvin’s idea of a roux stuck in my head so I had thought of making a white sauce as my base, then it morphed into using cheese fondue as the base. So that is what I did. I used my mother’s fondue recipe and just made it soup.
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Beer Cheese Potato Soup
4 potatoes
salt for boiling potatoes
1 cube (1/2 C) butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry (powdered) mustard
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C flour
1 can (12 oz) room temperature beer
4 grated cups medium cheddar cheese
5 cups potato water
2 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken
3/4 cup room temperature milk
Put water in a big pot for boiling – more than you need to cook the potatoes because you will be using some of the water for the soup. While the water is heating up, wash and peel potatoes. Cut them into bite size pieces. Salt the water. Put the potatoes in the water and cook them.
While the potatoes are cooking, in another large pot/pan, melt the butter, then stir in salt, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. Add flour, a little at a time, keep stirring, stir all the lumps of flour out. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, then stir the milk in a little at a time. You want it to keep thickening. Then stir the beer in a little at a time. –Keep in mind you may have to keep adjusting the heat on the burning. Often times, I just take my pan off the burner then put it back on.– Once all the beer is in and the mixture is somewhat thick, put some cheese in and stir.
In a separate container get a cup of potato water and mix in the Better Than Bouillon. (I never wait until it is all melted because I figure it will get all mixed up eventually.)
Keep adding cheese to the flour beer mixture, stirring until it is all incorporated. –Adjusting heat as necessary.– Once all the cheese is melted, slowly add the potato water with the Better Than Bouillon.
I just pour the water slowly in and the Better Than Bouillon might not be all the way melted and it may stick in the measuring cup, but that is fine. Keep using it to measure the water from the potato pot and by the time you are done with the five cups it has all melted and is incorporated into the soup. Keep adding potato/bouillon water slowly until you have added five cups. Make sure it is all incorporated. Then drain your potatoes and add them to the soup. Mix it all together.
Serve hot.
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NOTES: I did not peel my potatoes, but I probably will next time
If you are making cheese fondue it MUST BE BUDWEISER Beer, but for this . . . since it was going to be turned into soup, I wasn’t so particular.
So, this was good. And it hit the spot – the one that KRIS created with her tweet – it is all her fault! It was chilly and raining yesterday so a hearty soup was perfect. And now we have . . . . . the best thing! . . . . LEFTOVERS!!!! If you have ever read any of my posts with recipes you know I love leftovers.
So, I am sure you can add many things to this to make it heartier and yummier. So please let me know what you are adding to your soup!
Terre Pruitt's Blog 