Soooooooooooooooooooooo... The hubby sprung another challenge my way when I asked him what he wanted to eat. BEER CHEESE SOUP! I looked through a few cookbooks and decided on the one featured in The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook by Carlyn Berghoff, on page 30.

"Beer-Cheese Soup

Makes eight 1-cup servings

Beer-cheese soup is traditionally very German but also popular in the Midwest, where fall and winter weather makes it a welcome bowl of warmth.  You can use any Berghoff beer with this, but my favorite is Berghoff Original Amber.  The only tricks to making this recipe are using freshly grated cheese (packaged pregrated cheese from the supermarket doesn’t melt well) and not letting the soup boil during or after adding the cheese.  I like to serve it with a plain or caraway pretzel, or with freshly popped popcorn.  Put the bowl of popcorn on the table and let everyone add it to the soup as they eat.

Ingredients

I cooked up some bacon and used some of that lovely grease -- with the butter.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (I used salted butter.)

1 ½ cup finely chopped leeks, white and pale green parts only (about 2 medium-size) (I used finely chopped onions -- just less.)

2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (I minced with my garlic press.)

1 bay leaf

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk, at room temperature

2 cups chicken broth

1 (12-ounce) bottle Berghoff amber beer (I used Yuengling Octoberfest -- so you can use whatever.)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon mustard powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups freshly shredded mild Cheddar cheese

2 cups freshly shredded Swiss cheese (I got a strange look with the Swiss, so I used ALL cheddar.)

Fresh Baked Pretzels or freshly popped popcorn, for serving (or not.)

Directions

Heat the butter in an 8- to 10-quart stockpot over medium heat.  Add the leeks, garlic, and bay leaf, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are tender, about 6 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the flour over the leek mixture, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.  Slowly whisk in the milk, 1 cup at a time, and cook, whisking, until smooth and fully thickened.  (This takes some time, so don’t try to rush this step.) Slowly add the broth and beer, whisking constantly until fully incorporated.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, whisking occasionally from the bottom to prevent sticking and burning.  Remove and discard the bay leaf.  Stir in the Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper. 

Add the cheese by handfuls, stirring constantly.  Cook over medium heat without boiling until the cheese is melted, 3 to 4 minutes.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  Stir well before serving with fresh pretzels or a big bowl of fresh popcorn.

The soup may be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 4 days.  Reheat in the microwave on medium power or on the stove top, in a hot-water bath, until hot."

This was definitely a success. ANDDDDDDDDDDDD it heats up great in the microwave, just like it says. I will be making this, again.  I hope to pre-plan it next time and possibly make some pretzel bread for dipping. 

I have a bunch more recipes that I have tried this past week and will blog about them soon.

Till next time...