I’ve always been a huge fan of beer, and it was probably one of the hardest things to give up when I first embarked on my gluten-free diet. Luckily, these days it’s fairly easy to find gluten-free beer, and I’ve finally been able to add it back in to my diet (although I have to admit it wasn’t so lucky for my belly!).
Another of my all-time favourite foods is cheddar cheese, so I just knew that this beer and cheddar soup was going to turn into a new favourite even before I tried it. It’s creamy and sweet, very satisfying, and frankly one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever tasted, if I do say so myself! You can use strong cheddar if you prefer, but the mild cheddar seems to melt much better. Besides, the beer gives it plenty of kick anyway. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Heat the butter in a heavy soup pot over medium heat.
Add the onions, celery, and carrot and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, around 5 minutes.
Add the salt, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and 425ml of the broth.
Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk the sweet rice flour with the remaining 75ml of broth until smooth. Then add it to the pot, stirring constantly until the soup thickens slightly.
Remove soup from the heat and stir in the cheddar cheese until it is completely melted.
Just before serving, open the beer, add it to the soup and bring it up to serving temperature over low heat.
Garnish the soup with the parsley and paprika and serve immediately.
I don’t think I can be enthusiastic enough about just how much I love this sublimely delicious curried apple soup! Who ever would have imagined that apples and curry would go so well together!? It was certainly a surprise for me the first time that I tried it.
Red apples are really the ideal type for this recipe. But as with any dish, you can play around and change things to suit your own personal preferences.
You can use either chicken or vegetable broth – it won’t matter much to the final taste. And if you want to make a slightly lighter (low calorie) version, you can replace the double cream with single cream or milk and use oil rather than butter. But be warned: this will take away from the taste, at least a little. After all, Indian food is meant to be a bit decadent!