The Painted Apron

Tablescapes, Halloween Beer Cheese Soup Buffet

Posted by the Painted Apron on October 24, 2012 · 10 Comments 

It’s so easy to overlook the potential of something that has been hanging around your house for years, and sometimes you just have to stop and think, “how could I do something different with this?”  The other day I spied this ceramic pumpkin on a shelf in my garage.  I had totally forgotten about it, and remembered that I had some old Halloween stuff stashed inside.  I brought it in and emptied it out and that’s when an idea began to form…A TUREEN! I could use this as a soup tureen!

And thus, a whole little Halloween themed soup buffet was born!

I decided to serve Beer Cheese Soup, Spinach & Apple Salad,  some crusty bread, and Harvest Snack Attack for dessert.

I like to let people know what they’re eating so I put this funky little black polka dot cube out to display the names of the dishes

I had recently made some Harvest Snack Attack, so I put some in a glass pumpkin on a small wooden stand for an after dinner treat

I had some fabric scraps, black and white polka dot and checks, leftover from another project and they made a perfect covering for the island

My McKenzie-Childs butter server goes great with all this, as well as the black & white bowls.  The square casserole dish is really a baking dish but I’m going to use it for the salad, why not?  You’ve probably discovered that I LOVE black & white, so I have a ton of stuff that works here.

I put some Halloween beverages and glasses out and borrowed my big funky pumpkin from the other room. Time to start the soup

Get the roux going [roux is just a fancy way to say thickening agent in French] by melting the butter over medium heat and adding flour.

Stir it around for a minute or two until the flour dissolves and you have a lovely yellow “paste.”

You are really making just a basic white sauce, and there are two ways to go here…You can SLOWLY pour in the milk and cream, incorporating it gradually OR, you can JUST DUMP IT ALL IN! Like I, “Miss Impatient” did!  The roux will be unhappy for a few minutes with the shock of all that cool liquid, but it will eventually adjust and with an occasional good stirring, every few minutes, you will end up with

a beautiful, thick velvetty sauce!

Now add the beer and cheese

I used the Pumpkin Ale that has been showing up in my Halloween photos a lot lately!

The beer is bubbly and the cheese begins to melt right away.  That’s how Velvetta rocks here!  It is so smooth and creamy melty without becoming oily or greasy as a Cheddar would.  Yes, it is a dreaded pasteurized food product but because it is so much lower in fat and calories I think it’s a worthy exchange.  Besides the divine meltiness of it all!

After only about 5-6 minutes it is almost totally melted.  Add the Worcestireshire and some S & P and continue to stir

Soup’s ready!

I served some chopped red pepper and finely minced bacon for garnish

I also changed the menu a little and instead of serving bread and salad, I made a Proscuitto & Green Apple Flatbread which will be posted soon. The crust was perfect for dipping in the creamy soup!

This recipe is on my bucket list “The Paint Bucket” this month as Beer Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl.  I also had a recipe given to me by my good friend SC that she got from Baby Doe’s,  a local restaurant famous for their beer cheese soup ..and I had a recipe on my own for Light Beer Cheese Soup.  Ultimately, I combined SC’s recipe and mine and came up with something simple, easy and well, decadent!  Next time I am going to try the other recipe, hey how can you go wrong with ANY version of Beer Cheese Soup?

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Here’s the new recipe:

BEER CHEESE SOUP

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1/4 cup butter [1/2 stick] I used Smart Balance
• 1/4 cup flour
• dash Worcestershire
• S & P
• 1/2 cup Half and Half
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 12 oz bottle of beer
• 16 oz Velvetta cheese
• optional garnishes: chopped red pepper crumbled bacon, chopped chives or scallions

Instructions

 

• Melt butter in a medium sauce pan and add flour. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, making a roux. Slowly pour in the milk and cream and cook stirring until you have a smooth velvety sauce. Add beer and cheese. Stir and add Worcestershire and season with salt and pepper. Heat thoroughly to melt cheese. Garnish as desired. Makes 3-4 servings

Keyword beer cheese soup, cheesy soup, main dish soup

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the Halloween glasses can be found at JMdesigns Gallery

NOTE: I am still experimenting with my watermarking technique, I hate to ruin beautiful photos but due to the internet thieves, it is necessary!