Post by amarante on Nov 2, 2016 13:04:15 GMT -5
BEST-EVER BEER CHEESE SOUP
Excerpt From: Amy Thielen. “The New Midwestern Table.” iBooks.
SERVES 6
Scoring a table at Steven Brown’s newest restaurant, Tilia, feels exactly like walking into a slamming Minneapolis house party: the interior is full of dark embossed wooden trim and built-in alcoves, low ceilings with shiny cream-colored paint, tight corners, shadowy old mirrors, and people and plates of food you’re hoping to get to know.
With a mop of silver hair, the loose-hinged gait of an ex-rocker, and a flowing imagination tempered with Plains-state discipline, Steven Brown is widely considered among the best chefs in the Midwest. So when I dropped into Tilia for a lunch with my four-year-old and ordered the beer cheese soup, my expectations were high—I knew it wouldn’t come with the traditional popcorn garnish—but still, the bowl of glowing orange liquid that appeared shocked me into the present.
Thankfully thinner than any beer cheese soup I’d had before, this was also bolder, with a mysterious brightness, an inspired gleam of spicy mustard oil in the foreground and a lingering charge of aged cheddar flavor trailing behind it. By the bottom of the bowl, I knew that this recipe needed to be clipped and filed. In fact, I have an urge to laminate it—I love it that much.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter
1½ large carrots, diced (about ¾ cup)
¾ cup small-diced piquillo peppers, or ½ large red bell pepper, diced
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock, low-sodium store-bought or homemade
1 12-ounce bottle of beer, preferably a mildly flavored blond or pale ale
1½ cups half-and-half
12 ounces aged white cheddar cheese, grated
½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Mustard oil, for serving
Fresh thyme leaves, for garnish
In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, peppers, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until well incorporated, about 5 minutes more.
Add the stock, beer, and half-and-half and cook, whisking often, at a very slow simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
Add the cheese to the soup by the handful, whisking each batch until smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, ½ teaspoon pepper, the nutmeg, mustard, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.
Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender (holding a thick towel over the lid to prevent overflow) until very smooth.
Just before serving, reheat the soup until steaming and taste for seasoning, adding salt as necessary. Ladle it into bowls and garnish each bowl with a swirl of mustard oil and a sprinkle of fresh thyme.
NOTE: Mustard oil can be found in the Indian foods section of large supermarkets.
Excerpt From: Amy Thielen. “The New Midwestern Table.” iBooks.
SERVES 6
Scoring a table at Steven Brown’s newest restaurant, Tilia, feels exactly like walking into a slamming Minneapolis house party: the interior is full of dark embossed wooden trim and built-in alcoves, low ceilings with shiny cream-colored paint, tight corners, shadowy old mirrors, and people and plates of food you’re hoping to get to know.
With a mop of silver hair, the loose-hinged gait of an ex-rocker, and a flowing imagination tempered with Plains-state discipline, Steven Brown is widely considered among the best chefs in the Midwest. So when I dropped into Tilia for a lunch with my four-year-old and ordered the beer cheese soup, my expectations were high—I knew it wouldn’t come with the traditional popcorn garnish—but still, the bowl of glowing orange liquid that appeared shocked me into the present.
Thankfully thinner than any beer cheese soup I’d had before, this was also bolder, with a mysterious brightness, an inspired gleam of spicy mustard oil in the foreground and a lingering charge of aged cheddar flavor trailing behind it. By the bottom of the bowl, I knew that this recipe needed to be clipped and filed. In fact, I have an urge to laminate it—I love it that much.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter
1½ large carrots, diced (about ¾ cup)
¾ cup small-diced piquillo peppers, or ½ large red bell pepper, diced
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock, low-sodium store-bought or homemade
1 12-ounce bottle of beer, preferably a mildly flavored blond or pale ale
1½ cups half-and-half
12 ounces aged white cheddar cheese, grated
½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of hot sauce
⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Mustard oil, for serving
Fresh thyme leaves, for garnish
In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, peppers, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until well incorporated, about 5 minutes more.
Add the stock, beer, and half-and-half and cook, whisking often, at a very slow simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
Add the cheese to the soup by the handful, whisking each batch until smooth. Add the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, ½ teaspoon pepper, the nutmeg, mustard, and lemon juice, and stir to combine.
Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender (holding a thick towel over the lid to prevent overflow) until very smooth.
Just before serving, reheat the soup until steaming and taste for seasoning, adding salt as necessary. Ladle it into bowls and garnish each bowl with a swirl of mustard oil and a sprinkle of fresh thyme.
NOTE: Mustard oil can be found in the Indian foods section of large supermarkets.