Beer Cheese Soup

With Shavuoth fast approaching what better than a delicious dairy soup? From Pam Reiss‘ Soup – A Kosher Collection:

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1/2 small yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups beer
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 lb grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup, air popped popcorn for garnish

Directions

Use whatever beer you like to drink. Using a lighter beer will make the flavor of the soup subtler  than a dark beer. It’s a rich soup, so go easy!

Over medium low heat, sweat the vegetables in olive oilfor 12 to 15 minutes, until they are wilted but not brown.

Add the beer and bring it to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer gently for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, milk and half-and half. Whisk the this mixture, along with the salt and pepper, into the soup and bring the soup back to a simmer. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, allowing the flour to cook and the soup to thicken.

Using a whisk, add the cheese to the soup slowly, mixing well. Whisk until the cheese is completely incorporated

Serve the soup with popcorn for a garnish.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

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A Roundup of Our Shavuos Recipes

Chicken Gumbo Soup

In our everlasting quest to find great products, great recipes and more – for our faithful readers – we scour the store shelves, the net, the cookbooks and SYR and I will even even experiment quite a bit. It’s winter, it’s cold outside and we need food that will warm and make us feel good as we come in from the chill. In such cases, soups all hit the spot.

From Pam Reiss” Soup – A Kosher Collection:

Photo by: Michelle Furbacher, page 144

Serves 12

• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 small green pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 whole jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 cups okra, washed, trimmed and cut into 3-4 pieces
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup olive oil.
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 8 cups stock
•  1 cup rice
• 1/2 lb cooked chicken, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

I use fresh okra  in this recipe, but if you can’t find it, you can use frozen. Don’t be alarmed about the somewhat slimy juices okra gives off. All the sliminess will disappear as it cooks.

1. Over medium heat, sauté the onion, pepper, jalapeño, celery, okra, salt pepper, chilli powder and garlic in olive oil for 5 to 7 minutes. The vegetables should wilt but not brown.
2. Add the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and stock. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for another 15 minutes.
4. Add the cooked chicken, and simmer until the chicken is heated through and the rice is tender.

I just had two bowls of this soup and found it absolutely delicious and warming. So… enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

 

3rd Annual Shavuos Contest!

We are proud to announce our 3rd Annual Shavuos Contest. Last year’s prize (a beautiful basket of cholov Yisroel N&K cheeses), went to Pessy Haskelevich in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn; the year before that Brachie S. from Lakewood took the top honors and also received a great selection of cholov Yisroel N&K cheeses. Both times Brigitte Mizrahi, from Anderson International Foods graciously supplied the prizes.

This year Brent Delman from The Cheese Guy.com is supplying the prize:

Photo by: Brent Delman, The Cheese Guy

Two winners will be selected and each will receive a basket consisting of: Italian Montaggio and Pecorino Romano, Pepper Jack, Mild Cheddar, Monterrey Jack and Aged Havarti as well as a jar of honey and a jar of Swiss Hero preserves. All cheeses are cholov Yisroel.

The last date for entries will be May 25th (the Friday prior to erev Shavuot which will start on Motzey Shabbat) at 12:00pm. We will choose the best dairy recipe using cheeses as one of the ingredients. We’ve had some great entries in the past, be creative and send us your best. Winners will be announced on June 4th, the first Monday following Shavuot.

You may enter multiple times if you believe you have more than one possible winning entry. We can’t wait to sample those recipes!

Please send us your recipes to:

kosherscene@gmail.com

CS

Soup – A Kosher Collection

Soup is the perfect winter comfort food, warming us after a cold walk or simply enjoyed… because. In all its myriad incarnations, and ingredient variations a good soup warms the heart and soul as it satisfies the palate.

As Ms. Reiss puts it in her Introduction to Soup – A Kosher Collection

I'll be coming back to it again and again

Nothing beats a hot bowl of aromatic homemade soup on a cold winter day. It’s a great starter to a meal. It can be elegant or rustic, simple or extravagant, a light beginning or a filling main course. Most often it’s even better reheated the day after you make it…

[..]A simmering soup can fill a house with wonderful, inviting aromas. It can invoke memories of childhood dinners, surrounded by family, which none of us seem to have time for anymore.

From Parve/Vegetarian Soups like Everything But the Kitchen Sink, or Beet Borsht to Dairy Soups like Baba’s Break the Fast Soup, or Beer Cheese Soup; from Fish Soups like Saffron & Garlic Fish Soup, Soupe de Poisson au Provence to Meat Soups like Za’atar Chicken Soup, or Lamb & Fruit Soup, from Fruit and Dessert Soups like Pear Soup with Feta, Pecans & Balsamic Reduction or Chocolate Soup to Accompaniments like Matzo Balls with Fresh Herbs, or Parmesan Croutons this cookbook has it all. Every recipe shows its nutritional values which is great for any weight conscious foodie. With over 150 soup recipes and 6 accompaniments, this is the perfect book for the perfect comfort food! First published in 2004, it is now in its second edition with over 20 new recipes. Pam Reiss is constantly improving her work making it bigger and better.

It was hard to choose which recipe to feature here, but I settled on a dessert soup. I will make it this Shabbat:

Just looking at the photo makes my mouth water. Photo, from the book, by: Chris Freeland

Chocolate Soup

This creamy soup makes a great dessert. Serve it with a little fresh-whipped cream and some sliced strawberries, or use it as a cold chocolate fondue. Guests will be surprised when you serve this one!

•  6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 cups 2% milk
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

In a mixing bowl, wisk together the granulated sugar and the egg yolks until frothy and butter colored.

Using a double-boiler (or place about 2 inches of water in a saucepan, bring to a light simmer and place a metal bowl over it), heat the half-and-half, milk, salt, chocolate and cocoa powder until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture has warmed through.

Slowly add some of the hot chocolate mixture, about 1/2 cup, into the egg/granulated sugar mixture, whisking as you pour it, so that the hot liquid is incorporated right away and the eggs don’t scramble. Slowly poutr this mixture back into the hot chocolate, whisking as you pour. Continue to heat the soup until it has thickened slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, whisking continuously. When you dip a wooden spoon into the soup, then drag a a fingertip through the coating on the spoon, the line should remain clean.

Transfer the soup to a bowl or container, cover with waxed paper and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or until the soup is completely chilled.

We’ve reviewed Pam Reiss‘ Passover – A Kosher Collection on these pages before, at the time I wrote, the lady can cook!!! The current book strongly reinforces that notion.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS