Beer Cheese Soup with Toasted Baguette

A lot of my inspiration I pick up from watching food shows.  As a total aside, if a TV executive came to you 10 years ago and said that people would watch people cook on TV and do you think this is a good idea, I suspect most of us would have said no.  It is very entertaining and informative.  But I will say that most of the TV personalities are too happy.  They cannot all be that happy.

Back on point.  What I gain from watching is both learning more about some basic techniques and ideas of foods that I would like to eat.  I like the Sandwich King.  I love to make sandwiches and I think, a sandwich is food preparation that we can all relate to.  It is not some fancy dish that one can only make with lots of training but a dish that we all think we can produce.

I saw a cheese soup and thought this is good fall food.

Recipe
Cheese Soup:

1. Heat a 2 tbsp vegetable oil on medium high heat
2. Add 1 diced yellow onion and 2 each diced celery stalks and carrots, 2 cloves of garlic minced and sweat for 15 minutes; salt and pepper to taste and add a couple pinches cayenne and 1/4 tsp dry mustard 
3. Add 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour stirring constantly for about 1 minute
4. Add 3 cups of chicken stock (my batch needed more liquid than his recipe), 2 tsp Dijon mustard and 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce and cook for 15 minutes
5. Add 1 bottle of beer – Pale version and cook for 5 minutes or longer if you wish to have some of the beer boil off
6. Puree mixture (I used a blender)
7. Finally, add 2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese, 1 cup of smoked gruyere and 1/4 cup of buttermilk and cook until fully melted and serve with a crostini (buttered French baguette that is lightly toasted) and a handful of diced red pepper pieces.