Being vegan for about 5 years, its only been recently that I’ve come to experience the awesomeness of beer cheese soup.
The first time I had some was at Hamilton’s Tavern a few months ago, my friends were raving about it, but I was still a little skittish about my lack of cheese for so long I didn’t appreciate it for what it was. I tried it again later and enjoyed it. Then we went to Stone World Bistro and Gardens one night and I had their Garlic Cheddar & Stone Ruination IPA Soup. Garlic and good beer are two of my favorite foods, and the Stone Ruination IPA is a good beer, so this soup was perfect. With extra sharp white cheddar it was good and flavorful and bitter and tasty.
Last night I set out to make my own Beer Cheese Soup with some lackluster results. So I’m turning to you dear readers to leave a comment below telling me how to spice up this soup and make it something to be proud of.
I started by sauteing half a white onion and about five cloves of garlic in butter, then adding two diced jalapenos. After they were cooked a bit I added about a pint of Stone IPA and about the same amount of vegetable broth. I let this cook for about 20 minutes and then threw it in the food processor to make it smooth.
Back on the stove I added about a cup of low-fat milk and 8oz of shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese. To thicken it up a bit I slowly added some flour while stirring. Then some salt and pepper.
I think I served it too hot and as it cooled down it just didn’t have the right taste to it, but I couldn’t figure out what went wrong. It had plenty of cheese and beer in it, but just lacked that delcious flavor of the soups I’ve had a restaurants.
Some things I’m thinking of trying next time:
- No jalapenos, they made it spicy but overpowered it I think
- Roasted garlic and more garlic
- Some spices, maybe paprika
- Less vegetable broth
- Half and half or cream instead of milk
- Less flour
- A higher quality cheese, maybe more cheese
If anyone out there has any experience with homemade Beer Cheese Soup or any ideas on how to make it let me know.
Beer and cheese, how could you go wrong? I might suggest adding some celery and carrots. If you’re adding half an onion, maybe only one small carrot and 1 stalk of celery, saute at the same time as your onion. Less jalapenos, maybe one, seeded and diced. And maybe a tablespoon of dijon mustard and a few dashes of worcestershire? A few suggestions, to add the depth and yumminess you’re looking for. I’ll have to try to make this sometime!