Cheese Soup

I have a lovely friend who lives in the UK. She recently told me of her visit to the US several years ago and her experience with a food called 'cheese soup'. She told me it was nasty, gloppy, cold, and all around awful. While her description does make it sound pretty terrible, I was distressed because I MAKE cheese soup and know it can be wonderful. Last night, I made it, so I decided to dedicate this blog post to the process and prove that, while it can be done wrong and nasty, cheese soup is really something to enjoy and appreciate.

First thing's first. We need a quart of chicken stock. I'll keep the icky details out of it, but making your own means it will taste like chicken and not salt. If you don't have time to make your own, store bought will do. 

Now to the mise en place- all these lovely ingredients will turn into lovelier soup within an hour-

Melt the butter in the pan, then add all the vegetables and cook for eight to ten minutes.

Then add the flour and cook for a few more minutes. Add the garlic...

And the chicken stock and bay leaf....

And bring to a boil.
Cover and cook until veggies are soft.

Remove bay leaf and add cream. If you have an immersion blender, use it to chop the carrots, onion and celery up into a puree. I do not own an immersion blender, so I used my regular blender to pulverize said veggies.

Return to the pot and heat thoroughly. Then take your ten ounces of shredded cheeeeeeeeeeze (We used Havarti, but any good melting cheese will do. DON'T use cheddar unless you want a slick of oil on top or mozzarella unless you want tiny balls of cheese instead of smooth meltiness.) and add it very slowly to your soup. It will take some time, but don't rush it unless you just want a ball of cheese at the bottom of your pan.

Now all you need to do is add your Worcestershire and hot sauce- as little or as much as you like. It makes pretty patterns.

 Then eat it straight out of the pot! Or maybe get a bowl... We love it with crusty bread.

Bon appetit!

Recipe-

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup small diced onion 
• 1 cup small diced carrot
• 1 cup small diced celery
• 1/2 teaspoon salt for sweating vegetables, plus more if needed at end of cooking
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 quart chicken broth, heated to a simmer
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 10 ounces Fontina, shredded
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Directions

Melt butter in large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and salt. Sweat for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally. Sift the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes.

Gradually add the chicken stock and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and add the bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Remove bay leaf. Turn off the heat, add the heavy cream, and then puree. Gradually add the cheese, 1 small handful at a time, and stir until melted before adding next handful. Stir in the Worcestershire, hot sauce, and white pepper. Taste and add additional salt if desired. If soup is not hot enough, return to a low heat until warmed through.

God bless and see you soon,

Joelle