Okay, so it’s possible that this isn’t the kind of meal you eat before you do anything too strenuous, like run headlong into a burning schoolhouse to save dozens of screaming orphans. It’s probably not the kind of thing you want to have for dinner the night before your first day in basic training for the Marines. It may not be the kind of meal you settle down to the night before you run the New York City Marathon. It’s probably not an ideal meal for anyone looking to tackle a pre-dawn jog. It’s definitely not for anyone with any aspirations to, let’s say, make it into work on time. It’s not the kind of meal you eat if you have any pressing need to put on pants the next day. You know, this is not a meal for anyone who plans on ever actually getting out of bed. Let’s just say this, and then not speak another word about it: Save this supper for a night where your only major obligation is to continue the basic intake of oxygen and the expulsion of carbon dioxide from your bloated lungs and maybe, just maybe, to make sure “Teen Mom 2” is set to be DVR’d. Anything more involved than that may be entirely too ambitious.
Why is that? Because it’s a soup made of cheese and beer and bacon, for goodness’ sake. Any soup that uses “bacon pan scrapings” as one of its major flavoring agents just isn’t going to be that great for you. Calling it “soup” may even be lipsticking the pig, a little bit. This is a bowl of rich hot cheese. It’s liquefied Welsh Rarebit. It’s a lightly-spicy, soul-warming coppa d’oro. It’s excessive and gross and hedonistic and awful and everything-that’s-wrong-with-this-country and wonderful and delicious and heavenly and I’m eating another bowl even as I type this.
Use the best cheddar you can buy, since it’s such a major player in this soup, along with a decent brown ale, like Newcastle, or a pale ale like Bass. If you don’t like a lot of heat, scrape as much of the inside of the jalapeno as you can with the edge of a spoon before dicing. Top each bowl of soup with more bacon, jalapeno, or diced fresh tomato, and serve with plenty of crusty bread. And call me when it’s Springtime.
Brown Ale and Cheddar Soup
Adapted from a recipe from Food and Wine
Ingredients:
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 celery rib, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
- 1 large jalapeño, ribbed, seeded and chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- One 12-ounce bottle brown or pale ale
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 12-ounce package of thick-cut bacon, diced
- About 2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 pound sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely shredded
- Additional sliced jalapeño, bacon, thyme, and/or diced tomato, to garnish
Method:
1. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until the fat renders and the bacon is crisp, about 8 minutes.
2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to drain on a paper towel. Crumble any overly large pieces between your fingers, or chop quickly with a knife.
3. Add the celery, onion, jalapeño, garlic and thyme to the rendered fat in the saucepan.
4. Cook over moderate heat, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, stirring often, until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes.
5. Add half of the beer and cook until reduced by half, 5 minutes.
6. Add 2 1/4 cups of chicken broth and return to a simmer.
7. In a small skillet, melt the butter.
8. Whisk in the flour and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
9. Whisk the roux into the soup until combined, and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 8 minutes.
10. Add the heavy cream, cheddar cheeses and the remaining beer and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes.
11. Stir in the bacon and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Whoa.
Totally.
Malcolm- I’m confused. Is this the type of meal you’d want to eat before doing some running? I couldn’t tell from the six different examples you referenced at the beginning.
No, this is NOT the kind of meal you’d want to eat before doing some running. I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear.
That makes me want to lie down.
… which means someone will need to feed me this soup through a funnel.
Not to worry, this soup eats just fine lying down. 🙂
Marriage is a wonderful thing 😉
Daring to eat a peach is no longer a worry…this sounds about as heavenly as a soup could be…
This looks so intense I will have to try it for the Super Bowl. Nothing like the material girl and a steamy bowl of liquid cheddar. How many will it serve by the way?
This *is* an intense, rich soup, Coby. This recipe serves 6. Be sure to let me know how it turns out!
Wow!!!!!! My gosh…I totally want to dip a chip in that.
It’s not QUITE thick enough to use as a dip, but I suppose if you cooked it a little longer and let it cool…
It might be a bit decadent but it looks and sounds so good!
It sure was, Kevin! I wish I had made double the amount, but I’m sure my doctor is glad I didn’t.
What happened to the text? I can’t read any of it and I sooo want to make this!
Sorry. I’m working on it.
Just made the soup and it was amazing. I used the Bass Beer. I had been looking for a receipe like this and the entire family is so glad I found it.
Thanks, Alice…we love it, too!
I have tears streaming down my face because I want a bowl so badly and I’m stuck at the office. I can’t wait to make this. Thanks for the recipe.
Love the recipe! I’m on a “soup kick” lately, craving all sorts of soup and soup recipes. Also on a hunt for some soup bowls like the ones you have in your picture. May I ask where you got them (and the wooden plank they are nestled in?)
Hi Rebecca! This soup is one of my all-time favorites. The bowls they are served in are a bit of a trick of the camera…they’re just a little tasting set (each “bowl” holds about a tablespoon of soup). Thanks for reading!
i have tried so many of your recipes and they all have turned out awesomely…not this one. I think I bought the wrong kind of pale ale. It was bitter tasting or the garlic was bad : ( I’m going to have to try it again, but I want a smoother tasting beer. Thank you for all of the great recipes : )
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that! Please try it again with a different brand of beer…we have made this again since this post, and it turned out equally delicious!
We used Pale Ale– big mistake, super bitter…would recommend using less beer. Tasted like shit.
Yes, don’t use an IPA. Bass works wonderfully in this dish.
Mmmmm. Orgasm in a bowl!
I don’t think you’re doing it right.
Thinking of making this for our work’s “Soup Club.” Can you tell me how many this serves?
This should serve 8, but I’d double it to be sure. It freezes well, so it’s not a bad thing to have too much of. 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!
Hi! Just made this yesterday- supper yummy! I made it for a group of us cheering on the Bears MNF game. Yep- comatose before the end of the game! 🙂 There is a little leftover- can i freeze it? will the texture be good when thawed? I need to spread out some of this gluttenous eating! 😀
Meredith
I would expect this to freeze just fine…but if it DOESN’T, for some reason, please stop back by and let us know, okay?
I made it with Newcastle brown ale and it was tremendousssss
Glad to hear it, Mike!
Making this for a beer tasting shin-dig I’m hosting. Wondering how many servings this recipe would make? Thanks for the recipe!
Hmmmmmm…if I recall correctly, it should feed 6-8 people.
sounds yummilicious
so..heavy..how am I going to digest all that and still feel “no heavy”, …thanks can I subsitute the
butter ?
Super glad I read all the comments before I made this. I bought an IPA for this dish and now I know to drink it and not ruin a perfectly lovely soup!
I made this with raw milk sharp cheddar and Deschutes Obsidian Stout and proscuitto. I’d suggest using your remaining 1/4 pound of cheese and making cheddar croutons with a stale baguette, mmm.