Bleu Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 2T. Butter

• 1/3 C. each Celery, Onion, Carrot, finely chopped

• 1T. Garlic, finely chopped

• 1/3 C + 2 tsp Flour

• 3 C. Roasted Chicken Stock

• 1/2 lb Cheddar, shredded (I use a blend monterey jack/cheddar)

• 1/4 lb. Blue Cheese crumbles

• 1/4 lb. Excellent Quality BlCheese Bleu, I used a Dolce Gorgonzola, but you could use Stilton, Roquefort, Cabralas etc.. if you'd prefer.

• 1/8 tsp. Baking Soda

• 1 C. Heavy Cream

• 1/3 C. White Wine

• Salt, White Pepper, and Cayenne Pepper, To Taste

• 1 Bay Leaf

• Tabasco, To Taste

• 2-3 Dashes of Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a 4 qt heavy bottom stock pot over medium to medium high heat. Add in celery, carrot and onion and saute until tender (about 8 minutes). When vegetables are tender, add garlic and cook for another minute. Be mindful of the heat here.. you don't want your garlic to burn.

2. Next add the white wine to deglaze the pan - reduce down to 2T.

3. Then add the flour and stir it in to the vegetables to coat and make sure there are ZERO LUMPS. Cook for a minute to 2 minutes to start cooking off the starchiness of the flour.. Again, watch the heat. DO NOT LET THE FLOUR BURN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN!!!!

4. Then add your chicken stock and cream and bring to a boil. When boiling, turn down to a simmer and begin adding your cheeses. Cheddar blend at first, and not all at once either. Incorporate slowly into the soup stirring to make sure all the cheese is evenly incorporated otherwise you will get grainy clumps. This is what you want to avoid. Do this until all the cheeses are added and blended into the soup.

5. Finally add your seasonings/tabasco/Worcestershire/bay leaf etc. and let simmer for 20 minutes or so stirring often so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot. If you final result is too thick, you may thin it out with a little more stock or white wine, which ever you prefer.