Week 6: Cheeseburger Soup

A. Lot.

This recipe is a lot.  There are a lot of ingredients.  There is the potential to use a lot of dishes, spoons, spatulas, knives, and cutting boards.  Cleaning up could take a lot time.  There is a lot of gooey cheese.  You could make a lot of extra crispy bacon to top off a steaming bowl of this yummy soup.  I did.  You may hear a lot of, “Ohmygod.  This is soooo good,” while your friends and love ones devour one or two bowls.  And lastly, you may feel you should go running the next morning after eating a lot of it.

I’ve wanted to make Cheeseburger Soup, which I found on one of my favorite blogs, Damn Delicious (found here), for awhile now.   This freezing cold and snowy week seemed like a good time to try.  I suspected that my mom wouldn’t like it, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would either.  Guess what.  I didn’t like it.  I loved it, and so did my husband.  It was just the right amount of cheesy, salty, potato-y goodness to fill us up while watching Top Chef in front of the fire.  I imagine that the leftovers will taste even better... we’ll find out tomorrow.  

When my mom and I first looked at the recipe, we both kind of balked at the idea of the homemade croutons.  Not because they are difficult to make, but because there just seemed to be so many steps for this recipe.  Do not skip this step.  I think that the croutons added a really necessary texture to the soup.  I used Kings Hawaiian rolls because, well, they are just so damn good and it seemed like the right thing to do!  I think that these croutons may have been my favorite part.  Also, I used three russet potatoes instead of two.  To accommodate for this, I increased the chicken broth and milk by half a cup.  It. Came. Out. Perfect.    

  

Mom

"Man who invented the hamburger was smart; 

man who invented the cheeseburger was genius"

       ~ Matthew McConaughey

I didn't know what to think of this recipe when I first read it.  And, now that I've made it, I still don't know what to think!

There were numerous ingredients, nothing unusual, just quite a few.  Chives were not to be had in my small rural town but everything else was either in the cupboard, the fridge, or the neighborhood grocery store.  The prep took me longer than 15 minutes.  Rather than get the food processor out of the basement, I hand grated the carrots.  I also grated the cheese.  I couldn't justify buying a package of grated cheese when I have more than 2 pounds of block cheddar in the fridge.  If you follow the recipe to the letter, you use 3 different pots/pans.  I didn't. I browned the ground beef in the same pan as the bacon.  It was fine. I purchased hamburger rolls for the croutons, but to be honest, any old plain croutons would do.

Now for the taste...it was good.  I liked the oniony cheesy flavor, and I liked how thick it was. The crumbled bacon was yummy.  It didn't taste much like a cheeseburger to me, but I don't think that really was the point!  My husband wolfed down two bowls full.  I had one and was satisfied.

Bottom line - It passed the "Honey, Would you eat this again?", with five "yums" up.   I would look forward to eating this IF, next time, he made it!

CHEESEBURGER SOUP

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 hamburger buns, diced into 1-inch cubes
• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 ounces ground beef
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups milk, or more, as needed
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
  
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy.  Set aside once it's done.
3. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned.  Making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks.  Drain excess fat and set aside.
4. Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and Worcestershire. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent.
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.
6. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in ground beef, cheese, salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.
7. Serve immediately, garnished with croutons, bacon and chives.