Wisconsin Cheese and Beer Soup
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup celery, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup red bell pepper, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups beer (12-ounce bottle)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 1/3 cups kielbasa sausage, 1/4 inch dice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Directions
Critique:
Chef: sausage garnish on top is good, shows the customer what to expect. It's good to have the contrast of the meat; large pieces for garnish with nice coloring and smaller pieces to blend with the soup. The bowl was too hot to serve a cheese soup in and it began to break.
Personal/Team: Beer used in class was PBR, I think a rich ale would have been better to get the beer flavor more, but overall it was still tasty.
Lesson Learned: For a cheese soup, you need to be mindful of the heat. You need to add the cheese after it cools down to 140-160F, or the fat will separate in the cheese and it will break. After adding cheese and incorporating into soup, don't serve in a hot bowl, or it can break. Serve in a bowl at 200F (warm, but not as hot as a normal soup bowl).
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup onion, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup celery, 1/4 inch dice
1/4 cup red bell pepper, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups beer (12-ounce bottle)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 1/3 cups kielbasa sausage, 1/4 inch dice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups Wisconsin sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
Directions
- heat the butter over medium heat; add the onion, celery, and red bell pepper and cook 4 minutes or until the onion is translucent.
- Add the flour; whisk in to make a roux. Add the seasonings and cook 3 minutes.
- Add the beer and stock; stir vigorously to dissolve the roux, then simmer for 30 minutes.
- heat the milk separately and add to the soup.
- Saute and render the fat our of the sausage. Remove, drain on paper towels, then add sausage to the soup. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove form the heat and stir in the grated cheese until smooth.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- garnish with the green onions when serving.
Critique:
Chef: sausage garnish on top is good, shows the customer what to expect. It's good to have the contrast of the meat; large pieces for garnish with nice coloring and smaller pieces to blend with the soup. The bowl was too hot to serve a cheese soup in and it began to break.
Personal/Team: Beer used in class was PBR, I think a rich ale would have been better to get the beer flavor more, but overall it was still tasty.
Lesson Learned: For a cheese soup, you need to be mindful of the heat. You need to add the cheese after it cools down to 140-160F, or the fat will separate in the cheese and it will break. After adding cheese and incorporating into soup, don't serve in a hot bowl, or it can break. Serve in a bowl at 200F (warm, but not as hot as a normal soup bowl).