The Pig's Beer Cheese Soup

My brother Alex, you may remember his previous work Stacked Fried Green Tomato with Plantain & Colossal Crab Meat, absolutely loves this soup.  By this soup I mean his version.  He makes a mediocre magnificent beer cheese soup.  The only other time I partook in this delicacy was at a God-awful chain restaurant, I think they filmed the movie Waiting..., there.  The soup hit like a nuclear bomb in the gut. Which then lead to the unfortunate bathroom explosion and inevitable colon cleanse.

Now, when conceptualizing my vision I decided to omit any roux and cream.  The combination of pureeing the soup and the cheese gives me a thick enough consistency.  Obviously the cheese is paramount here, and luckily, the Great State of Wisconsin produces some of the best cheese in the world. Here, I used two exceptional Wisconsin products...

1. Aged-Cheddar Cheese
2. Black Truffle Sheep's Milk Cheese

Beer is the next important component.  I decided to keep the Wisconsin theme going with a classic, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or PBR.  What?!  C'mon, this beer works well in the soup.

Who is the pig? And why did you steal his soup? If you read this blog then you know that LC got to puree and garnish all his soups. The pig is the wonderfully happy, organic, free range animal that gave its life to be my garnish. To honor it, I decided to use my favorite cut from the animal, the pork belly, and serve it 2 different ways.

Finally, my piece de resistance is a super serious and complicated molecular gastronomy “foam.” It is sure to blow your mind.

Enjoy...

Roasted Pork Belly & Pan-fried Bacon Garnish

Beer Cheese Soup, Thyme Flowers & White Truffle Oil Drizzle

Beer Foam

The Pig's Beer Cheese Soup

For the Beer Cheese Soup:
Safflower oil
12 oz carrot - diced
12 oz white onion - diced
12 oz celery - diced
2 leeks (white & light green parts only) - chopped
3 cups organic homemade beef stock
2 cups Pabst Blue Ribbon

5 cups Wisconsin Aged-Cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups Black Truffle Sheep's Milk cheese
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
pinch of cayenne pepper
Sea salt

Note:  Please be very careful with how much salt you add to the soup.  Remember that the pork belly garnish will add saltiness and flavor to the final product.

In a stockpot, heat the safflower oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add the leeks, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard.  Cook for 12 minutes.  Add the beef broth and beer.  Lightly season with sea salt. Simmer for 30 minutes.  Puree the soup using an immersion blender.

Off the heat, slowly blend in the cheeses.  Return to the heat.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

For the pork belly:
3 lbs pork belly - skinless
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 tbs smoked pimenton
1 tbs curry powder

In a bowl. thoroughly mix the spices.  Rub the spice mix into the pork belly both sides.  Put into a covered container.  Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Put the pork belly in an ovenproof dish - (skin-side up).  Roast for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and baste with rendered fat.  Roast for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat down to 250 F.  Roast for 65 minutes.

Pork belly should be quite tender but not falling apart.

For the Beer Foam:
Pour yourself a nice ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.  Then quickly spoon some of the foam over the soup.  Voila.

Here's to hoping that my soup will not lead you to have an unfortunate bathroom explosion and colon cleanse.

That's it for now...till we exchange a few words again...Peace!