Cheddar Beer Soup with Croutons

Who doesn't like beer and cheese? Beer and cheese are like bacon and whipped cream (or in my case, goat cheese and peanut butter) - they go well with almost everything! As my Father-in-law would say, if you can't improve something with bacon, you could probably improve it with whipped cream. We spent the next stretch of time pondering this phrase, tossing meals around, and I can't remember one dish bacon or cream wouldn't do well on.

Now, this isn't Bacon Whipped Cream soup (Anyone want to take a moment to daydream about that for a minute?), but its just as interesting. I saw this recipe on YumSugar and immediately printed it out. You don't mess around with stuff like this.

The ingredients aren't anything fancy - absolutely easy to put together. The hardest part is all the stirring - not because I have the arm muscles of a toddler, but because it was so hard to stand over the pot, the soupygoodsmell filling my nose.

Not only dreamy soup, oh no, but delicious, crunchy croutons! Make extra, because if you get them ready before your soup is done, you'll snack on them - and I'd hate for you to run out before dinner is ready!

I would recommend making this when having guests, as I had enough beer soup after one bowl... it's kind of like butternut squash soup, in that you can't eat it forever (like goat cheese or peanut butter.) :)

Cheddar Beer Soup & Croutons
c/o YumSugar
http://yumsugar.com/user/partysugar/recipes/1042371

5 tbsp. butter
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
One 12-ounce bottle amber beer, such as Dos Equis
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 3 1/2 cups)
Croutons, for garnish, recipe follows

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

Add the carrots and leeks, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until soft, 10 minutes.

Add the flour and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.

Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly.

Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beer and mustard and bring the soup to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, whisking, until creamy and thickened, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the cheese 1 handful at a time until combined.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with the croutons.

Serves 4.


Croutons

7 slices thick white bread, crusts removed
2 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Slice the bread into small cubes, about half-an-inch by half-an-inch.

In a large bowl toss the bread cubes with the butter, oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Toss well to coat all of the bread pieces.

Spread out on a baking sheet covered with foil.

Bake in the oven, checking often for 20-25 minutes.

Remove and let cool 5 minutes. Serve in a bowl alongside the cheddar cheese soup.

See the recipe...

HHDD #17: Here, have a slice!

I have become a crazy-person about making pizza at home. With a few simple ingredients, anyone can make their own. Using either store-bough dough or home made (and its really not that hard to do), you can toss anything you like on your pizza. You can make it all one flavor or half-n-half, or one-thirds green pepper because you're mate doesn't care for them... and I'd like to see Pizza Hut make a one-thirds green pepper pizza!

You can imagine my delight when I read that Joey of 80 Breakfasts chose pizza as this round of HHDD's theme! (For those of you that remember, HHDD = Hay Hay it's Donna Day! is a fabulous event created by the lovely Barbara, honoring the much-adored Donna Hay. Each round's winner hosts the next, starting us off with a Donna Hay recipe that fits the new theme.)(For those of you that really remember, I was lucky enough to host HHDD #12: Caesar Salad. Totally fun!!)

Okay, enough with all that link-action - back to the pizza! I saw this pizza on an episode of Giada's Weekend Getaways.... she was in Boston and went to Sonsie's for an amazing-looking lunch of pizza... White cheese pizza with grilled corn and wood smoked bacon! As if that doesn't sound delicious enough, the cheese was cheddar and brie!! Chedder and BRIE!!

Sure, I go on and on about my love of goat cheese... but me and brie go waaaaaay back. When Dave has hockey games, I sometimes just have brie and toast for dinner... and this morning, I worked brie into our breakfast sandwiches (bacon, egg and brie on a bagel, if anyone is interested).

I saw the episode long before Joey announced her round, so when she did, I knew that this pizza would be it! I cooked the bacon first and used the bacon drippings to grill the corn. I don't know which is better: the brie or the corn cooked in bacon fat! My super-clogged arteries took one for the team, I know, but I'm a giver. :)

My thanks to Joey for such a fun choice and for giving me a good excuse to make this delicious pizza! Pop over to Joey's site for the roundup and a chance to vote!

White Cheese Pizza with Grilled Corn and Wood Smoked Bacon
Seen on Giada’s Weekend Getaways: Boston, Food Network TV
Recipe courtesy Chef Bill Poirier of Sonsie's in Boston
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_89142,00.html

8 ounces pizza dough, store-bought or home-made
1 tablespoon semolina flour
3 slices sharp Cheddar
5 (1/2-inch) cubes brie cheese
1/4 cup grilled corn kernels
3 strips cooked smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon freshly flat-leaf parsley, no stems
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Pecorino Romano

Preheat oven with pizza stone to 475 ° F for 30 minutes.

Gently stretch dough to 11-inches in diameter. Place dough on pizza peel dusted with semolina to prevent sticking. Top dough with the Cheddar and brie cheese. Scatter corn, bacon and parsley leaves. Sprinkle pizza with olive oil then Romano. Slide pizza onto hot stone in oven. Bake 6 to 8 minutes until golden, cut into 6 slices and serve on warm plate.

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That Hungry Blonde Girl

In early November, Janet posted about these yummy cups. I knew as I was reading them that we'd be eating them. This recipe has all you could ask for... ease of preparation, mexicany-ness, and single serving sizing.

I'd linked the blog to my husband, so he knew what he was getting into... and so he'd stop asking me what we were having for dinner. :)

I got home, whipped these together and I think we ended up gobbling them all up. (Or we at least finished them off at lunch the next day.)

I'll close with what Dave said after he had his first one, once he'd asked me where she got it, and I explained that I think she made it up on her own: "That Hungry Blonde Girl is smart!!!" So true, so true.

Find the recipe here!

See the recipe...