the offWhites

This evening, I made my favorite Cheese Soup (see, I love it so much I give it big shiny capital letters). I even managed to find Worcestershire Sauce here, at a regular grocery store — not an import or specialty store. The Cheese Soup was very, very good.

That is all.

Cheese Soup

• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. canola oil
• 1 c. chopped onion
• ¾ c. chopped carrot
• ¾ c. chopped celery
• 2 cans (14.5oz) chicken broth
• ¼ c. flour
• ¾ c. half-and-half or heavy cream
• 3 c. grated cheddar cheese
• ½ t. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ c. beer
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium pot, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot; saute 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons broth and cook an additional 5 minutes. (This is where I, in all of my vegetable-avoiding glory, dump it all in the blender and smoosh it all up into a paste. I usually add a little more of the chicken broth to facilitate this.)
2. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. (The mixture will be very thick.)
3. Add the remaining broth slowly, stirring to smooth out the flour. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring often.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the half-and-half, grated cheese, Worcestershire, beer, salt and pepper. Place back on low heat for 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Hold on low heat.
5. Note: This is a pretty forgiving soup. I often add more cheese than the 3 cups, or more or less beer depending on my mood and who I’m serving. Also, it’s really, really good with beer bread. I’ll share that recipe sometime later. It’s really easy, so I ought to post it so you can all share the goodness…mmm….