Soup Series 7 - Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

copycat of Buffalo's Blackthorn restaurant's soup, as seen on Diners, Dives & Drive-ins

In butter, sweat Spanish onions that are diced. (I added carrots too but that's not in the original recipe.) Then add Irish beer, and then cubed potatoes that are par boiled. (I used bagged cubed hashbrown potatoes). Add white pepper, Montreal steak seasoning, seasoned salt and chicken base. Bring to a simmer. Then add shredded cheddar and Monterey jack. Add a small amount at a time whisking in. Then add heavy cream and some nacho cheese. Serve with a squirt of wing sauce on top. 

When I made this, it turned out really grainy. I added some mashed potato flakes to thicken it. Which helped. But I believe I added the cheese too fast, at too high of a heat, and that led to it being grainy. I could never get the cheese blended in smoothly.

Next time I will also add some sliced American cheese to help prevent the graininess. Also I read for cheese soups, you should take the soup off heat, and add very small amounts of the shredded cheese at a time and whisk in, to prevent the graininess. Also once the cheese is added, you should be careful to never let it boil, or honestly maybe even simmer. I also used a beer I had on hand but next time I need to use a stronger beer.

I will make this again being much more careful adding the cheese.