So, yeh, first day of spring and all that, but…
the evenings, around about here anyway, are still a bit nippy; the perfect weather for a hearty bowl of soup. And what a soup! Bacon! Beer! Beef! Cheese! My husband actually found the recipe online at slowroasteditalian.com and asked me to try it. I did make a few changes to mine, including cooking coleslaw mix with the beef to up the veggie count, and tried to keep the “zip” down for my mom-in-law – though mebbe not enough, it was not her fave.
Still and all, a worthy soup!
INGREDIENTS
Soup:
•12 oz uncured bacon
•1 lb lean ground beef
•1/2 bag coleslaw mix
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1/4 cup all-purpose flour
•1 tbsp Montreal steak seasoning
•2 tsp smoked paprika
•12 oz beer
•2 cups chicken broth
•1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•2 cups half and half
•16 oz Cheddar cheese, shredded
Toppings:
•Croutons
•Chopped grape tomatoes
•Chopped pickles – I used Ranch Pickles
•Sliced scallions
•More bacon
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Slice the bacon into thin strips and cook over medium high heat in a large pot, stirring and breaking up the strips into small pieces, until browned and crispity.
Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate and discard all but around two tablespoons of the fat in the pan.
Add the ground beef, the coleslaw mix, the Sherry Peppers and hot sauces and cook, breaking up the meat until the beef is cooked through and most pan liquids have been cooked off.
Add the flour, steak seasoning, and paprika and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two, just so the flour won’t taste raw.
Stir in the beer, scraping the bottom of the pan to gather up any tasty extra crispity bits that might be stuck there.
Stir in the bacon, chicken stock, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil for five minutes.
Stir in the half and half and bring the soup back to a nice bubbling point.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cheese until melted.
Note: you can cover the coup at this point and keep it on low heat until you are ready to serve.
I served the soup topped with bacon, croutons, and scalliosns, then had bowls of chopped tomatoes and pickles at the table for folx to add as they saw fit.