and you and you...You're Gonna Love Me.

Trust me, you'll be singing Jennifer Hudson too when I give you this recipe.
Carrie sent an email late last week and I knew immediately I would share it here. I have NOT tried this myself but I'm anxious to..and now I'll need to try to make the rye croutons. Yummers.
Anyway--Carrie said she made a few adjustments but I assume those changes are reflected there.

You're welcome.
: )


Upstream’s Smoked Gouda Cheese Soup

½ onion diced
2 garlic cloves pressed
1 cup corn (I used frozen corn cut from the husk last summer… the creamy sweetness made the soup!)
½ red bell pepper (pureed in processor)
¾ cup carrots (pureed in processor)
2 bottles of Ale (I used one Blue Moon and one Boulevard Pale Ale)
2 cans chicken stock
2 cups chopped red potatoes
4 cups heavy cream
1 ½ lbs smoked Gouda cheese (shredded)
3 Tbsp cornstarch
2 teaspoons Beau Monde seasoning
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp (give or take) sea salt
¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper

In 2 Tbsp olive oil sauté onion until clear (I used a 7 ¼ qt Le Creuset). Add garlic stir in for one minute. Add pepper and carrot puree, and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with beer. Add stock, stir and add potatoes. Bring to boil and then simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

Reduce heat to low, stirring constantly, add cream. Sprinkle cornstarch over cheese, toss to mix (starch will somewhat lightly coat cheese). Add cheese mixture in SMALL batches into soup stirring to melt. Do not overheat.

At this point use an emulsion blender to CAREFULLY puree potatoes and any large onion pieces that have yet to cook down.

If soup is too thick, add more beer. Next add Beau Monde, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

ENJOY!!!

taco soup

1-2 lbs of ground beef
1 onion (diced)
1 can of ro-tel
1-4oz jar of taco sauce or packet of taco seasoning
a small can tomato sauce
1/2 pkg hidden valley reanch dressing
1 can pinto beans
1 can ranch style beans
water - as needed (i tend to add about 4 cups)

brown meat and onions, drain and put in crockpot. add remaining ingredients. simmer for an hour or more. garnish with cheddar cheese, tortilla chips (crushed a little) and/or sour cream.

Bean Soup and Cracked Corn and Cheese Squares

tomato basil soup

1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 c tomato juice
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 -14 1/2 oz can of tomatoes
1/2 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup milk or half and half (i use milk)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil
sour cream

in a large covered saucepan cook celery, carrot, onion and garlic in hot oil over medium-low heat 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. add tomato juice, broth tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme and cayenne. bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. cool slightly.
place half of soup at a time in food processor and process until smooth. repeat with the other half. stire about 1 cup of tomato mixture into the milk, to prevent curdling. return all of soup to pan, add sugar. heat through. stir in basil. top each serving with sour cream and fresh basil garnish. i also set homemade croutons out to use as a topping, and they were a pretty good addition :)

this only has 106 calories per bowl, if you use milk rather than cream.