INGREDIENTS
3 stalks celery, fine dice
1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
1 each small red, yellow, and orange bell pepper, fine dice
3-4 fresh garlic cloves, minced (use more if you like garlic)
1-2 pablano pepper, fine dice
Bacon, six slices, diced into chunks
½ cup all purpose flour
3 - 4 tablespoons butter
2 - 10 oz. containers In the Curious Kitchen Beer Cheese
2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade but any quality stock will work
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1 can dark beer. I used a Dunkle.
Garnish with Rye or Pumpernickel Croutons, Green Onions, grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese, and Crispy Bacon Crumbles.
DIRECTIONS
- Cut Bacon into about 1-inch pieces and render in a large stock pot, stirring frequently. Remove when crispy. Drain bacon on a paper towel and save to use as a topping for the soup. Save about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease in the bottom of the pot.
- Chop all vegetables and set aside to use when assembling the soup. Mince the garlic cloves.
- Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers to the bacon grease in the stock pot. Cook until tender (about 8 minutes) but stir frequently to make sure they do not cook too quickly. Add the pablano peppers and garlic, continue to sauté for about 3 minutes.
- When vegetables are tender, add butter, sprinkle flour over the veggie mixture, stirring to make a light brown roux. This will take about 5 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure the flour does not get too dark. When the desired color is achieved add the beer cheese and stir until combined.
- Stir in chicken stock, whole milk and cream. Simmer until slightly thickened.
- Add additional beer and continue to simmer until the soup thickens slightly. You can add beer or additional stock
- Add Beer or additional stock to thin the soup if it becomes too thickened.