Hereford House

I

Cheddar Ale Soup

 

 

6 strips    Bacon, diced

1/4 lb       Whole Butter

1/2 cup       Yellow Onion, diced

1 Tbls      Garlic, minced

1/4 cup    Red Bell Peppers, diced

1 1/4 cup  Flour

1/2 tea     Thyme

1/4 tea     Crushed Red Pepper

1 pinch    Cumin

1 pinch    Cracked Black Pepper

6 oz         Fat Tire Ale

3 cups     Chicken Stock

1 lb          American Cheese (or Velveta)

1 cup       Heavy Cream

 

Put diced bacon in a stock pot and cook on medium high heat until the fat is rendered off.  Spoon out the bacon bits and save for later.  Add butter to the rendered bacon grease and melt.

Add the onion, garlic and red bell peppers and saute till the vegetables are tender.  Mix in the thyme, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper and cumin.

Add the flour and whisk till it is completely incorporated forming a roux.

Whisk in the Fat Tire and take off of the heat.  Note: At the restaurant we then puree the vegetable using an immersion blender.  You can use one of these if you have one or you can either strain them out or leave them whole if you would like.

Return soup to the heat and whisk in the chicken stock until soup is smooth.  Let simmer for 5 minutes, it will still be very thick.

Add the american cheese and stir slowly every couple of minutes until cheese is melted.

Add the heavy cream and the reserved bacon bits and let the soup simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

It is now ready to serve.

 

Note: You can use any type of beer you want, however if you use a light beer it won't have as good of flavor and if you use a dark beer, it will taste too much like the beer.  Amber ales usually offer the best flavor without being overwhelming.  Also, this recipe was scaled down from a 4 Gallon batch to a 3 Quart batch...the amounts of the ingredients are approximates.