Jalapeno Beer Cheese Soup

Today is Christmas Eve! I hope everyone has all their Christmas shopping done and presents wrapped.  I’m still behind on my gift wrapping.  My last few presents came via delivery yesterday so I’ll be wrapping today  —yay!

These last few weeks have been brrrrrr… cold! So to combat the coldness, we’ve been having soup.  This soup is rich, full of flavor, has a bit of a kick and I mean, you don’t want to feed small children this soup.  It’s strictly an adult soup.  The title really does say it all.  This is best served with some sort of dunker.  Bread or a sandwich would complete this meal.  Have a merry Christmas everyone!

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Ingredients:

• 8 thick slices of good quality bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 3 jalapeno peppers, diced (2 unseeded and 1 with seeds)
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 (14.5 ounce) cans of chicken broth
• 1 cup of turkey broth
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle of ale (I used a double barrel ale)
• 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese
• freshly cracked pepper
• fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped for garnish

Preparation:

In a large soup pot over medium high heat brown bacon until slightly crispy.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towel; set aside.

Spoon off and discard all the fat, except for 1/2 tablespoon.  Return the pot to medium heat and add onion, celery, carrot, jalapeno peppers and garlic.  Cook until vegetables soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add butter and continue to cook the vegetables alongside with the butter so they don’t burn.  Once the butter has melted, add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Slowly stir in chicken broth and turkey broth, making sure there are no lumps.  While stirring, make sure to scrape up the bottom of the pot with your spoon to get all the bacon bits on the bottom.  Allow soup mixture to simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in ale, and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add heavy cream, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce.  Then return bacon into the soup pot and stir to combine.  Add sharp cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese to the pot and stir until all the cheese is completely melted.  Season the soup with freshly cracked pepper (I didn’t find salt necessary here because the bacon and cheese gave it plenty of flavor).  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.

Adapted from Brown Sugar