Cheddar Ale Soup

All the kind comments on my last post were greatly appreciated.  I felt a bit dramatic in apparently self-nominating myself for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pioneer of the Year award.  I should clarify that I do always have the nation's fastest 3g network at my fingertips so am not really living the minimalistic life.  I think blogger even makes a mobile blogging application.   But alas, the nation's fastest 3g network does not necessarily translate to the nation's most reliable network and I would rather poke my eyeballs out King Lear style than type mass amounts of text using a  touchpad. I'm a  full qwerty keyboard kind of girl--just little old school.  Okay, I'm not going to lie to you.  In high school typing, we had typwriters.  I'm way old school.

The lack of blogging has left me with an abundance of useless photos.  You would think that no blogging = no photos of food.  I can't seem to put down my camera when there's food or a little Peanut involved.  And truly, Guinness in soup deserves a post.  I followed this recipe pretty closely with just a substitution of leeks for onions. And of course the Guinness.  The recipe calls for ale but one must use Guinness since it's arguably the only drinkable beer type substance out there.   My only other input would be to use caution when adding the cheese.  Do it slowly and then turn the heat off if immediately if you don't want congealed cheese gunge.  The pan and the soup will thank you.

 Cheddar Ale Soup
Adapted from Williams Sonoma

2 tbs. unsalted butter
2 leeks , sliced thin
2 celery stalks, finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 bottle (12 fl. oz.) ale
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/4 lb. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
Salt, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:
In a stockpot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and whisk in the milk and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.
Return the mixture to the pot and set over medium heat. Add the ale, Worcestershire and mustard and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the cheese 1/2 cup at a time, letting each addition melt before adding more; do not allow the soup to boil. Season with salt and cayenne.
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.