White Cheddar Ale Soup

I have had a craving for North Peak Brewery's White Cheddar Ale Soup with mustard pretzel croutons lately.  However, that's a 2 hour drive for me, so I thought, "well how hard can it be.  It's ale, it's white cheddar, you can't really go wrong..."  As usual, I searched the net high and low for recipes.  One called for leeks, one for Worcestershire sauce, another for heavy cream.  I had none of these items on hand.  What I did have was a lovely winter ale and some white cheddar.  My blog is all about using what I have on hand to make delicious food at home because we live quite a drive from the grocery store and it is an even farther drive to find a great restaurant.  Below is what I came up with:

5 TBL Butter
2 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
1 small onion
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk (2% is what I used)
12 oz bottle of ale
spicy brown mustard
8-10 oz grated sharp white cheddar cheese
salt, pepper
chicken stock

Halve the carrots lengthwise and thinly slice.  Dice the celery and onion finely. Saute veggies in butter, season with salt and pepper, simmer for 10 minutes. Add flour and whisk until bubbly, 1 or 2 minutes. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly. Add beer and mustard. I didn't measure the mustard, a couple squirts, perhaps it was a couple of teaspoons--you won't want too much.  Increase heat to medium high, bring to boil while whisking constantly.  Boil one minute, reduce to low and simmer 10 minutes.  The soup should be creamy at this point.  Mine was a little heavier than I wanted it, so I added a cup of chicken stock made with chicken base. I would recommend adding a teaspoon of the base to the soup even if you don't add the water to make stock. Once all this is incorporated and looking creamy, add the grated cheese a little at a time until it is combined.  Someone* (*the huz) got into my white cheddar, so I added a few crumbled slices of regular cheddar as well, and that was fine. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed, even a pinch of crushed red pepper if you like.  Serve with popcorn or croutons.

I was quite pleased with the results, if only I had the mustard pretzel croutons on hand.  But some popcorn popped on the stove top was a nice addition and a traditional accompaniment to "beer cheese" soup.

For dessert, I whipped up a batch of Banana Oat Cookies, a nice ending to a very comforting meal.