Cheesy Soup for Cheeseheads

One of my college roomies was a cheesehead, and she introduced me to a whole world of fine cheese products I knew nothing of – for example, cheese curds both fresh and fried (did you know that freshly made cheese curds squeak when you chew them?), string cheese, and, of course, beer cheese soup. Wow – how had I lived without knowing about these things? That was many years ago, and I’m so glad the Wisconsinites have carried their message nationwide and all of this cheesy goodness is now widely available.

I am sure it is because of this experience that I went on to work for Tastefully Simple … purveyors of many wonderful cheesy products! So today let’s celebrate cheese, Wisconsin, the end of our Fall-Winter product line, and my dear roomie, Sue, with delicious Cheesy Chive Beer Cheese Soup. And you even have a chance to get your Cheesy Chive Warm Dip Mix for FREE. Enter our “Farewell to Fall-Winter” giveaway for your chance to win Cheesy Chive PLUS a ceramic dip bowl!

Many thanks to our consultant – Team Mentor Karen Foley – for inventing this recipe! Even though she’s a Georgia girl, she sure knows how to make a mean beer cheese soup!

Cheese it up!

j*a*N*e

Cheesy Chive Beer Cheese Soup

Submitted by Karen Foley (GA)

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 bunch green onions, trimmed and diced
¾ cup beer
2 cups prepared instant mashed potatoes
2 cups milk
1 packet Cheesy Chive Warm Dip Mix
8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Heat oil in skillet and sauté white parts of onions until tender. Combine sautéed onions and next 4 ingredients. Stir until smooth, simmer 15 minutes. Do not boil. Add in shredded cheese and stir until cheese is melted and soup is hot. Garnish with green part of onions. Makes 4 servings.

Testing Notes

• First and foremost – my family LOVED this soup and it was VERY easy to make!
• I had a bunch of asparagus in the fridge that I had forgotten about, so rather than letting it turn into a science experiment I chopped it up and added it to the soup … and I must say it was a tasty addition! I just sautéed it with the onions for a few minutes.
• I don’t like to go nuts with the green onions, so I used less than half a bunch; however, upon tasting the soup we all agreed that more onions would have been better. We could barely taste them (Karen is correct … you should use the whole bunch!).
• I didn’t have any instant mashed potatoes, so I diced and boiled four potatoes then mashed them with butter, milk and a little sour cream. Yummy, and easier than running to the store for a box of instant potatoes!
• I accidentally let my soup boil (Grrrrr….!) and it seemed a little curdled after that, but upon further investigation I think it wasn’t curdled, it was that the mashed potatoes added a little texture to the soup. It wasn’t unpleasant … even though the word “curdled” is. (I really don’t like that word – let’s try not to use it.)
• I garnished my soup with shredded Cheddar and some chopped green onions, but if you want to be really authentic, you should garnish it with a handful of popcorn!

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