Monday, May 24, 2010

Creamy Onion and Blue Cheese Soup - Meatless Monday



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The weather turned cool and wet on Saturday. Really wet. It was not a day for salads, so I pulled an untried soup recipe from my files and had a go at it. This turned out to be a nice soup, perfect for a rainy Saturday or Meatless Monday, but I must warn you, it is not for the feint of heart. To say it is strongly flavored is an understatement, but if you love French onion soup, beer and blue cheese I suspect the first spoonful will make you a rabid fan. The recipe is much like any other you may have for French onion soup, save for the addition of lots and lots of blue cheese. The cheese gives the soup its creamy texture. I suggest you add it in increment and taste as you go along. Start with four ounces and work you way up the suggested range of measure. Eight ounces would have been ideal for me, but Bob preferred it with a full twelve ounces. The soup also uses beer instead of wine to boost flavor. A bit of caution should be exercised here. To avoid bitterness, use something that is mellow. I have, for years now, used a specific non-alcoholic beer for cooking that gives flavor without bitterness. I'm not a teetotaler. The Belgian beer that I prefer is not available in this area, but I've found that O'Doul's Amber Ale has a hops finish and is a reasonable substitute. I also puree roughly half of the soup to give it substance. While this will never replace my favorite French onion soup, I can recommend this soup to any who love strong flavors are looking to try something a bit out of the ordinary. Here's the recipe.

Creamy Onion and Blue Cheese Soup
...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted fro The Spoon

Ingredients:

6 (8-oz.) yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon sage
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 (12-oz.) bottle O'Doul's Amber Ale
4 to 12 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Directions:
1) Heat olive oil and butter in a large pot or Dutch oven until butter melt and mixture sizzles. Add onions and stir to coat. Cover pan and cook at a medium-low temperature for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and translucent. Uncover, raise heat to medium-high, and stir in salt and sugar. Cook, stirring only to prevent burning, until onions are a deep golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.
2) Lower heat to medium, stir in flour to form a paste with onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until flour is lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock or water, stirring to blend stock with onion mixture. Add thyme, bay leaf and sage along with remain stock and beer to pot. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook slowly for 30 to 40 minutes. Place 1/3 to 1/2 of soup in a blender jar, Puree, being careful not to burn yourself. Return to pot. Add cheese in 4 ounce increments to taste. Add salt and pepper as required. Continue cooking over low heat for 30 minutes longer. Do not allow soup to boil once cheese has been added. Serve piping hot. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these meatless entries:
Vegan Red Lentil and Pepper Flan - One Perfect Bite
Vegan Red Lentil Soup - One Perfect Bite
Pasta Primavera - One Perfect Bite

This recipe is being linked to Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory

52 comments :

Nancy's Notes said...

Oh my goodness Mary! What a fabulous recipe, thank you so very much for sharing! My mouth is watering...yumm!

Nancy

Kait said...

Beer + Cheese = WINNER! Thank you for sharing this recipe. Soups are great for rainy days.

Sushma Mallya said...

healthy and yummy soup,

Maria said...

It is snowing in Utah today so this is perfect!

The Blonde Duck said...

Anything with cheese is always divine.

La Bella Cooks said...

So rich and decadent! My husband would love the blue cheese element so I may just have to give this one a try.

Sasha said...

This soup looks and sounds so chic. And I can practically smell it from that picture : )

Diane said...

This sounds wonderful and the forecast says our weather is due for a change tomorrow. Typical Nigel arrives!!! Diane

Jonna said...

Hi Mary,

Oh my Goodness....I'm glad I found you as well! You site looks delicious, and I'll visit often as well. Thanks for visiting:
http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com

Thanks again,
Jonna

PeggyR said...

What a great soup! Unfortunately we are in the 80s here! But I will definitely be trying it once it cools down.

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

Oh my, that would be a very hearty tasting soup. Possibly we would enjoy it. I would opt for the smaller amount of cheese myself. Hope your weather starting turning. It's time.

Allie and Pattie said...

It looks gorgeous, Mary, and I suspect that I would enjoy it as you would with 8 ounces of cheese. I'm filing this to try. Thank you!
xoxo Pattie

Martha said...

I made onion soup last week on our rainy Wednesday -- and it was perfect but this looks and sounds delicious and we both love blue cheese. It's getting to be summer on the prairie -- soups need to be cold! But it will be a good autumn soup.

Angie's Recipes said...

Cheese soup! And it's even BLUE CHEESE! Looks so creamy and satisfying!

RamblingTart said...

Oh mercy, Mary, this soup is marvelous!!! My Danish family are huge fans of blue cheese and I will have to make this for them on our next rainy day get together. :-) Yum!!

Jen_from_NJ said...

Creamy onion and blue cheese sounds like a winning combination. Perfect for a meatless Monday meal!

Alessandra said...

WIth Ale! I am learning something new every day!

Thank you Mary :-)

Janice said...

Fab recipe, but we are having a heat wave lol!

Janell said...

Thank you so much Mary for stopping by! I am LOVING your site as well. Adding it to my favorites! I LOVE sharing good food and it looks like your site is chocked FULL!!! :)

tspegar said...

Mary,

Thank you for the kind words about my blog. This soup sounds delicious. I have visited your blog before... it's lovely and simple. I really like it.

Devaki said...

Dear Mary - You had me at ale! Love the combination of cheese, onions and beer.

What's not to love?

Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

I am a huge blue cheese fan. When my husband and I met he did not like it at all and now after ten years of marriage he's just as much into it as I am.
I don't know if I would sacrifice my regular blue cheese into a soup but at Trader Joe's they sell it crumbled and I sometimes get that to toss on salades. I would love to try this hearty soup, I might just have to wait until fall though- it's already hot here.

Biren said...

Beer and blue cheese in a soup...sounds interesting. Good idea about adding in increments.

Unknown said...

I love onion soup, and beer of course. But I'm not a big fan of blue cheese. I can have a small piece but I find it too rich. Anyway, the soup looks delicious. Have a great Monday Mary. Michael

DailyChef said...

What a perfect recipe. Spring sunshine has been slow to come this year and I'm still in the mood for warm, delicious soup!

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

Great recipe...love the photo...very inviting.

Carmen

p.s. following you now on twitter. Fixed my twitter account.

Martha said...

A little to hot here in Florida for soups now but it sure does look delicious Mary!

Chef E said...

I may have just died and gone to soup heaven! I love intense flavors and this sounds great!

On my list to try now...

tasteofbeirut said...

How interesting! a bottle of o'doul in the soup and then blue cheese! I have got to try it! Unfortunately the weather here has been in the 90s!

Pondside said...

This sounds delicious, and just the thing for the half of a Costco sized blue cheese in the fridge!

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

I've had twitter issues...so it's private. Send me a twitter request and I'll add you!

Carmen

penny aka jeroxie said...

I have joined onto the band wagon and am doing meatless mondays as well. It is such a great movement. Let's support each other :)

A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...

This sounds so comforting--as all soups should be. It was a perfect choice for the rainy day!

Thanks for visiting A Spicy Perspective. Your kind words are very encouraging!

Bossy Chef said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and saying hello, it was very sweet and meant a lot to me that you like my blog. I love yours.

Oh if I wasn't banned from Blue Cheese for the near future I would be making this tonight. Yum.

Little Inbox said...

I really love the meatless dishes. Sounds healthy.

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I am such a blue cheese fan - this sounds fantastic, Mary!

Pam said...

It's wet and cold here too Mary. This soup looks and sounds absolutely divine!

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» appreciates the use of the cheese in this recipe - we've got to keep his cousins employed, doncha know...

Dewi said...

This is truly delicious and smooth looking soup Mary.

Cristie said...

What an interesting soup. I'm not sure I've seen a blue cheese soup before, I love it!

My Little Space said...

This sounds really seducing. Beer & cheese in soup! I had beer & cheese bread but not this! Hopefully, I don't feel dizzy after that. hehe... Though, it's a very comforting soup. Enjoy!

Federica Simoni said...

come sempre una super ricetta!! baci!

Deb in Hawaii said...

A very unique soup and it looks both creamy and delicious--yum!

Salsa Verde said...

This recipe is fabulous. I love blue cheese and your soup look so creamy and delicious...
XXXX
Lia.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I am far from being feint-hearted Mary. I have some lovely goatgonzola in the fridge.

Claudia said...

I have some blue cheese begging for this recipe. Onions, blue cheese, ale - who could complain? We have soared into the 90's but this is MN - we will turn cold and I will make this.

Juliana said...

Wow, I cannot wait to try this! It's going on my list for next week's menu. Thanks!!

Nina said...

Just stumbled across you blog doing research for mine. www.mommacooks.net

Jan said...

I wanted to say hi and thank you for your kind comment on my blog.
I'm loving your blog Mary and I really like the idea of onion and blue cheese soup - it looks delicious!

Tasha said...

This soup sounds perfect for us- as we love onion soup, blue cheese and beer! It's not even remotely close to cool weather where I live, but that won't stop me from giving this one a try soon!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Mary, I would have like to have made this before I got back to you but this week was simply not the right time.

I Love the changes you made which must make some subtle difference for even better flavor.

Thanks for linking this to My Meatless Mondays.

test it comm said...

Sweet onions and tangy blue cheese would go so well together in blue cheese form!

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