Cheddar Cheese Soup

     
                I just found out that a favorite soup of mine in Walt Disney World(my family's favorite place), is no longer going to be served.  It was the cheddar cheese soup at Whispering Canyon Cafe.  The last time I had that soup, a year ago now, my then 11 month old, and my then 10 year old, ate most of it on me.  As a homage to this soup being retired(maybe temporarily), I decided to make cheddar cheese soup today.  It's not exactly the same soup, because I don't have the recipe, but it is definitely worthy of being in the same league of yumminess.

                Bowls were licked clean with this soup.  Bread served with it was it's best friend.  This soup was supposed to make a meal during the week, but it didn't get past the seasoning tasting. 



Ingredients

1. 1 onion diced
2. 1 large carrot chopped
3. 1 large stalk of celery, or 2 stalks celery hearts
4. 2 garlic cloves, minced
5. 5 Tablespoons butter
6. 2 Cups low sodium chicken broth
7. 2 Cups half and half(or light cream)(if you use skim milk, which I did another time the result won't be as creamy as with the half and half.  It will still taste good though.)
8. 5 tsp worcestershire sauce
9. 1 tsp salt
10. 1/4 tsp pepper
11. 1 Cup white cheddar cheese, shredded (I packed the cheese into my measuring cup to measure)

In a large pot melt 5 Tbl of butter and then add the carrot, onion, and celery.  Stir on medium heat until the onions start to look translucent.

Then add the garlic and the flour.  Stir the flour well into the vegetables.  You're making a roux.  Let it cook now, stirring, for 3 minutes.  That helps get rid of the flour taste.

Next, slowly add the chicken broth.  Add a little at a time.  The flour will absorb the broth.  It you add the broth too fast and don't allow the flour to absorb it, you'll end up with lumps.  After the broth is all added and you have a nice thickened broth, cover the pot and let it cook on medium/low heat so that the vegetables cook through.

Once the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork, mainly the carrots, puree the soup.  I used my immersion blender, but because there wasn't enough liquid in the pot, I tilted the pot in order to use it without splattering everywhere.  You can also puree it in a blender.

Next, take your 2 cups of half and half, and warm it up.  I put mine in a measuring cup and microwaved it for 1 minute.  Slowly add the half and half into the soup.  Keep the heat on the soup on medium low.

Now add the cheese and stir to incorporate.

Finally, add the worcestershire, salt, and pepper.  Taste at this point for the salt and pepper.  Everyone's taste buds are different of course.

Serve up with bread to dunk.  This is so darn good!  You can place a few drops of tabasco sauce on top.  Tabasco is not for the kids, unless they like the heat.