DANISH HAVARTI CHEESE SOUP

I love cheese. I love soup. I love cheese soup. This is a naughty-but-nice recipe. Naughty on the calories, nice on the palate. Too bad. You could lighten it up easily by using all milk instead of cream and milk, or half-n-half instead of heavy cream. But here’s the deal: if you’re going to do that, you better do it on your first shot. Once you’ve had it tasting its best, you won’t really want to go back, now will you?

Ingredients:

2 medium size potatoes, diced into bite-sized chunks

1 to 1 ½ tablespoons chicken boullion (I use Penzey’s Chicken Soup Base)

3 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup water

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

½ cup finely chopped onions

3 tablespoons flour

1 lb. (16 oz) Havarti cheese (grated)

Salt & pepper to taste

Croutons (for garnish)

1. Boil diced potatoes until tender; drain and set aside

2. Combine milk, cream, water, and chicken base in a pot. Heat to dissolve soup base, but do not allow to boil. Alternative: you could use 1 cup of prepared chicken broth (like Swanson’s) and omit the water and soup base. ALSO, you could omit the water all together and just dissolve the base in the milk and cream. Just depends on how thick and rich you like your soup!

3. In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, melt butter and sauté onion and celery until very soft and tender (approximately 5 – 7 minutes). Stir constantly and keep the heat medium or less, as you do not want to brown the veggies. When the veggies are soft, add the flour, stirring together to form a thick paste. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes (you’re cooking the raw flour taste out and making the roux that will thicken your soup). Watch the heat so that you don’t brown the flour.

4. Begin adding the milk mixture to the roux, stirring constantly (a whisk works nicely here). I add it in thirds.

5. Add the grated cheese and stir until completely melted.

6. Add the cooked potatoes.

7. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

8. Serve topped with croutons.