Sweet & Smoky Beer Cheese Soup

This may go down as the least healthy recipe I've ever posted, but it fits with the beer theme, so here goes. This is my sweet and smoky take on a classic dish, using our doppelbock style home brewed beer Cletus the Defenestrator.


Hey look, a beer snifter!

Sweet & Smoky Beer Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 oz gouda cheese, cubed
• 4 oz smoked gouda cheese, cubed
• 1 cup bock style beer
• 3/4 cup cream
• 4 shallots, sliced into strips
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp turbinado sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 red chili pepper, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
In a large non-stick saucepan, sauté the shallots in butter on medium heat for 4 minutes or until the shallots just begin to brown. Add the minced garlic and continue to cook for 2 minutes, then add the sugar and let the shallots caramelize. Temporarily remove from heat and add the flour. Stir until combined. Optional: Once combined, set a couple spoonfuls of shallots aside for garnish.

Add cream and bring to a low boil. As the cream thickens, slowly whisk in the cheese cubes until melted. Add the beer and whisk until you have an even, creamy consistency. Note: If you want to thicken the soup a little bit more, add 1 tbsp of flour to 1 tbsp of melted butter and whisk into the soup.

Season with salt, pepper, chopped cilantro, and minced red chili pepper, stir together and remove from heat. Garnish with the remaining caramelized shallots. Serve immediately with toasted garlic bread.



I'm proud that I made this recipe from scratch. It took some trial and error, experimenting with different cheeses and onion varieties and proportions of ingredients. I knew I wanted something that specifically worked with our beer, which is kind of sweet and malty, and my palette just screamed smoked gouda. I am glad it did.

And thus concludes beer week. It's been fun, but I am craving tea and non-bread-based food.