Recipe: Bell’s Porter Beer Cheese Soup

Can’t make it out to Bell’s Eccentric Café? Now you can follow along and make our legendary soup at home.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 ribs celery, finely diced
• 2 TBS minced garlic
• 2 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire
• 2 tsp horseradish
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups Porter
• 6 cups milk or vegetable stock
• 4 cups of cream
• 1 lb of shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and white pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a large pot, sweat the onions, celery and garlic in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. When the onions are translucent and most of their liquid has been cooked off, add the mustard, Worcestershire, and horseradish and give it a quick stir to ensure even coating.
2. Add butter and melt it into the vegetables, add the flour, stir until all vegetables are coated. Cook until a light brown color (about 2 minutes).
3. Whisk in the beer, let it come up to a boil and cook down for a minute to burn the alcohol off (you will need to stir constantly as this will be very thick).
4. In a separate pot, heat the milk and cream (warm but not boiling).
5. Once beer and vegetables are ready, slowly add the cream and milk, whisking it into the mixture. Bring to a boil and then add the cheese, handfuls at a time, whisking constantly and making sure all cheese is incorporated before you add more (if you do not do this, your soup may have a grainy texture). Taste for seasoning and add salt and white pepper as necessary.

Serve hot with your favorite crusty bread!