This was the first meal I made for Jason. We were actually on our “honeymoon”. He and I crammed all of my earthly belongings into a Budget Truck with a Jeep Cherokee in tow and drove 15 hours through the Appalachian Mountains to the East Coast. The kids stayed behind with family; after all, it was our honeymoon. We were so tired from moving that we had Gino’s delivered (a family owned pizza place) every night. Three totally exhausting days later, we were all moved in and Jason had to return to work.
I remember that day – I watched 4 episodes of Little House on the Prairie and searched the classifieds for a job, then I decided to go to the grocery and I got lost and had to call the Highway Patrol for directions-and then I think I cried. I missed the kids and my family and my BFF and I was in a strange place without J. Don’t worry; I got myself together after a phone call to Son.
I decided that since this was our first meal together as husband and wife that I actually MADE-I would make it special. Instead of the paper plates we had been eating on, I broke out the good dinnerware. I set the table with fresh cut flowers and candles and then I got to making the soup. It’s not a difficult recipe, but it is a whole lot of chopping and a whole lot of stirring and you sometimes need four hands because 3 burners are flaming at once.
Jason came home, and I greeted him like I was June Clever-I should have been wearing pearls. ..The frantic, stressful and tearful day melted away when he walked through the door with his Navy cover-alls on. I was so excited for him to sit down to a nice meal. I made him some fresh iced tea and garnished his soup and sat it right in front of him. I watched and waited for his reaction with baited breath.
“Honey, this soup is so good! How many cans did you buy?”
Sigh, our first fight.
Cheese Soup
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups whole milk
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups cheddar cheese
6 small red potatoes, diced
Celery, carrots and onion-chopped finely in the food processor (all together this should equal no more than a cup)
1 package of bacon, cut into pieces and then pan fried until crisp
1 bunch of green onion, finely chopped
1. Simmer the diced red potatoes and the celery, carrots and onion in 2 cups of chicken both until all are tender.
2. Melt the butter over medium heat and then stir in the flour (using a whisk is makes this MUCH easier)
3. Add 2 cups of milk all at once to the butter and flour mixture. Continue to stir this constantly so as not to burn the milk. This is the longest part-you need to stir and cook this mixture over medium heat until it is thick and bubbly. Don’t worry if it is not bubbly just make sure it gets thick.
4. Once the milk mixture is thick turn down the heat to low-or off for this next step.
The above picture is of 2 pounds of bacon, frying. (I doubled the recipe)
5. Add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese to the milk mixture. Stir until the cheese is COMPLETELY melted. If you don’t the soup will be gritty.
6. Once the cheese has melted into the milk mixture-it only takes a minute-add the chicken broth with the cooked vegetables. Stir over low heat until there is consistency.
7. Garnish each bowl right before serving with lots of crispy bacon and sliced green onion.
It’s better than O’Charleys…and speaking of O’Charleys-when I was out running some errands with Sonya today; I stopped by there and just ordered 2 dozen rolls to have with the soup tonight. My family looooooooooooves me.
Well, Lauren not so much right now because I took this picture of her enjoying her soup after she just got home from a track meet.
