Second Breakfast

This is clearly a meme now.

Both my husband and I remember watching Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, on public TV when we were kids. I don’t know what that says about the both of us and our future compatibility, but we still both joke about his quips such as “So when you’re in Turkey (you’ll GO! you’ll GO!), you can pick up this cheap coffee grinder and use it as a pepper mill.” Anyways, I liked watching him, and it gave me a window onto a larger world that I didn’t know anything about in Monroe, MI.

We like to eat at the Grizzly Peak Brewery in Ann Arbor, and they have a great Cheddar and Ale soup. Alan remembered such a recipe from the Frugal Gourmet show, so we resurrected it and it has become a favorite at our house. Ours is a bit lighter than the restaurant version I think probably because there are two ways to solve the problem of how to add cheese to a soup. One approach is to add enough fat in the form of cream, butter, etc. to the broth to ensure the “sauce” doesn’t break and the cheese doesn’t curdle. The other approach is to buffer the grated cheese with AP flour, which also prevents the fats from coming immediately out the cheese and curdling. My addition is to include some ground mustard with the flour as it is important for the flavor and is a good emulsifier as well.

This can be made as a vegetarian soup, but also works very well with some sliced kielbasa tossed in and simmered at the end.

Items

• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed and diced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 48oz vegetable broth or chicken stock (Kitchen Basics and Swanson’s organic are good)
• 2TB butter or olive oil (your choice)
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 TB AP flour
• 2 tsp ground mustard
• 12oz beer, preferably a full-bodied ale
• Shot of tobasco and worcestershire sauce (to taste)
• 1-2 tsp dried thyme
• Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
• 8oz smoked kielbasa, sliced (optional)

Method

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large stock/soup pot.
2. Cook the onion, celery, and carrot over medium heat, 5 minutes, until softened.
3. Add the broth/stock, turn the heat up to boil, cover, and turn the heat down load and simmer for an hour or so. Use a stick/immersion blender if you have one to puree the soup a bit.
4. Meanwhile, in a plastic bag shake the cheese with the flour and mustard until well-coated.
5. Add the cheese slowly to the soup, stirring to incorporate. It will take a little time until it is completely melted. Keep the heat low.
6. Add the tobasco, worcestershire, thyme, salt, and pepper and simmer for a few more minutes.
7. Add the beer, and kielbasa if you wish. Adjust the seasoning and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.