Irish Cheese Potato Soup

Irish Cheese Potato Soup

Dubliner cheese is one of my favorites.  I first tasted this cheese years ago at Costco and it soon became one of my favorites.  I  love the slightly nutty and  sweet taste of this cheese.  I eat it with crackers and fruit or use it in my mac and cheese.  It also makes a great grilled cheese sandwich.

Today, I used it in some potato soup I was making.  It was a cold and bleak  day  (it was snowing most of the day) so I made some soup to warm us up.  What set this soup apart from my usual recipes is the Dubliner cheese and lager/ale.   I love what lager/ale does to cheese soup so I thought it would be great in this soup.

I started out by cooking some diced veggies in butter with a sprinkling of salt  After a few minutes when the veggies began to soften, I tossed some flour over them and cooked about 2 minutes.  I then added the broth, a bay leaf, and the lager.  Added the diced potatoes and brought to a boil.  I covered the soup and cooked about 30 minutes or until the the potatoes were tender.   I let the soup cool for about 10 minutes before I processed it in my blender.  The pureed soup was returned to the pot where I added some heavy cream, dried parsley flakes, some, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce (use to your taste preference) and white pepper.  I heated the soup through and then gradually added the cheese.  I then added some salt and pepper and the soup was ready to serve.

I served this soup with some crumbled bacon on top but you could do chives, additional cheese, fresh chopped rosemary.  It was a hearty soup with a velvety texture.  You could taste the difference the Irish cheese made - it was a subtle flavor not as robust as you would get with a sharp cheddar.  If the soup is too thick for your taste thin it with some broth.

Irish Cheese Potato Soup

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more if needed after tasting
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
6 small russet potatoes peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 cup lager or ale
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 pound Dubliner cheese shredded
Crumbled Bacon

Directions:

1. In a Dutch Oven melt the butter.  Add the onion, carrots, celery and salt.  Cook for 5 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally or until vegetables begin to soften.
2. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook for 2 to 3 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Add the chicken stock, potatoes,  bay leaf, and lager/ale.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4.  Remove from heat and let cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and process in a blender in batches.
5. Return the soup to they Dutch Oven and add the cream, parsley flakes, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and white pepper.  Heat through and add cheese one small handful at a time.  Do not add more cheese until the prior handful has melted.
6. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with some crumbled bacon or other garnishes of your choice.

Makes 8-10 servings

Pin It