Guest Post: Courtney's Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup-Epcot Style!

This is Courtney - first introduced in the debate food from a few weeks ago. I went to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival a few weeks ago and picked up the cookbook for all the delicious food. And the beginning of fall means it's time for yummy soup!

This soup was featured at the Canada Marketplace. And it's basically crack. It takes a while to make and you have to watch to make sure it doesn't boil, but it's so worth it. You can also make tons of substitutions depending on what you have on hand. I've indicated mine in parenthesis. Also, this recipe serves ten. I didn't realize this when I first started making it, but lots of my friends were very, very well fed for the next few days. This soup wouldn't freeze well, but it works just fine to put it in the fridge and reheat it slowly.




Cooking Notes: Anything I changed is noted in parentheses, i.e. onions used, addition of garlic, etc.


Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup (from the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival Cookbook)
1/2 pound of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium red onion (or two small yellow onions)
(1 tbsp of garlic, because everything needs garlic)
3 celery ribs, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
4 tbsp of butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock
4 cups milk
1 pound grated Cheddar cheese (Substituted low-fat mozzarella for half of this because I didn't have enough cheddar)
1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp Worcesterschire sauce
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup warm beer (omitted but would be delicious)
Chopped scallions or chives, for garnish.

Cook bacon, stirring, over medium heat until lightly browned in a large Dutch oven. Add onion, celery, and butter and saute until onion has soften, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes over medium heat. Whisk in chicken stock and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. This is when I added garlic.

Add milk and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil after adding milk! Remove from heat and stir in cheese, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper until cheese is melted and soup is smooth. Stir in warm beer. If soup is too thick, thin with warm milk. Serve hot, garnished with chopped scallions or chives. (Or more bacon. Because bacon is the best.)