Cheddar & Beer Bisque
Description
Cheddar and beer are a union that is about as old as time itself. But for this warm and cozy bisque, Cheddar and a hearty dose of Brown Ale, Altbier, or Maibock takes a standard on the soup circuit from ordinary to extraordinary!
Pair with: Brown Ale, Altbier, Maibock
Ingredients
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine (use recipe below or store-bought margarine)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 small carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups soy or almond milk
1 cup beer of your choice, preferable the same beer you’re pairing with the dish
2-1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese (use recipe below or store-bought cheese)
Egg replacer equal to 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Sour cream (Optional. Use recipe below or store-bought sour cream.)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives, or to taste
Directions
Melt the margarine in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, sautéing the vegetables until they are golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Slowly stir in the milk and beer. Lower the heat, and cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Add the Cheddar cheese, stirring until the cheese has melted.
Place the egg replacer in a large bowl. Slowly beat 1 cup of the soup mixture into the egg replacer using a whisk or electric mixer. Pour the egg mixture into the soup pot, and heat until desire doneness. Add the salt and white pepper to taste. Garnish each serving with a dollop of the sour cream, if using, and a generous sprinkling of chives. Yields 4 servings.
Special notes
**DIY Margarine**
16 ounces coconut oil
1-1/2 cups canola or sunflower oil
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
Attach a candy thermometer to the side of a sturdy, medium-size saucepan. Prepare an ice water bath in a vessel large enough to hold the saucepan.
Add the coconut oil, canola oil, coconut milk, mustard, turmeric, and salt to the saucepan, stirring well. Bring the mixture to 125°F over medium heat, then transfer the pan to the ice water bath, and continue to stir until the mixture firms up. Transfer the mixture to a container with a screw-on lid. Cover and refrigerate the mixture. The margarine will keep for about 2 weeks. Yields about 4 cups.
**Egg Replacer**
While many of my friends choose to use eggs in the recipes in The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Happy Hour, many other people either avoid or can’t have eggs in their diet. I’ve catered to both groups by offering options for egg replacements in all recipes in this book.
Today, there are many options for removing eggs from dishes and replacing them with plant-based egg substitutions or replacers, which basically consist of a natural powder combination of starches and leavening ingredients.
While there are various plant-based egg replacers available, one go-to source is Ener-G brand’s Egg Replacer (Ener-G.com).
For this particular egg replacer, the conversion is: 1 egg = 1 ½ teaspoons dry Egg Replacer plus 2 tablespoons water. Also, see Flaxseed below.
A few recipes call specifically for an egg replacer for egg yolks. One go-to, plant-based brand is The Vegg (TheVegg.com). For this particular egg yolk replacer, the conversion is: 2 to 3 egg yolks = 1 teaspoon Vegg blended with 1/4 cup water.
Flaxseed
To use flaxseed to replace eggs, for each egg, process or blend 3 tablespoons filtered or bottled water with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed until the mixture is smooth and thick. Let the mixture rest for a minute or two before adding it to your recipe.
**DIY Sour Cream**
Nondairy sour cream, such as Tofutti sour Supreme, is available online at such sites as Tofutti.com. FollowYourHeart.com also produces a tasty sour cream alternative. Or you can use this homemade version:
5 (1-inch) slices silken soft tofu, pressed and drained (see instructions below)
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend for 5 minutes, until creamy and very smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more to thicken. This sour cream alternative keeps for about a week. Yields 1-1/2 cups.
Recipe courtesy of John Schlimm from ‘The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Happy Hour’.
