Well, first, I should apologize. I know I’m a couple days later than normal on getting a post ready – and it doesn’t have a picture. I took one, I didn’t transfer it to the computer immediately and then it got deleted. I’ll add it later next time I make this soup. Hopefully you can forgive me and my errors and focus on Alton Brown’s: Cheese Soup!!

The Program

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ounces small diced onion (approximately 1 cup)
5 ounces small diced carrot (approximately 1 cup)
5 ounces small diced celery (approximately 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt for sweating vegetables, plus more if needed at end of cooking
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken broth, heated to a simmer
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 cup heavy cream
10 ounces Fontina, shredded
1 teaspoon Marsala wine
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

The Prep

There are 2 very important prep points to ponder with this recipe. First and foremost: Chicken Stock. Please, please, please, please take the time to make your own chicken stock. I know it seems like a lot of work but it is worth it – especially in this recipe. Why? You ask. One word: sodium. Store bought chicken stock has a ton of sodium in it. Besides the health reasons to avoid getting too much sodium, when making this soup, it can easily end up being too salty. Not only does the broth you bought have a bunch of sodium, but you need salt to get the vegetables to sweat properly and there is a good bit of salt in the cheese. This trifecta of sodium can make your soup too salty in flavor – especially if you simmer for longer than indicated. By making your own stock, you can control the amount of salt that goes into it and thereby how much goes into the soup.

The second item of importance in the prep work is not an ingredient, but a piece of hardware – an immersion (stick) blender. Do you have to have one to make this soup? No, but believe me once you use one, you’ll never go back to using a bar blender again. Not only is the immersion blender super fast, it is also safer. You don’t have to run the risk of spilling really hot soup all over yourself and kitchen as you transfer it to the blender then to a holding pot and back to the cooking vessel. Just put the stick blender in your soup pot, hit the switch and in no time at all you soup is smooth as cream and still warm enough to melt the cheese.

The Process

Dice up the veggies and get them sweating in the pot. Once they are soft, add the flour to make a roux. Cook this for about a minute. Add the chicken stock. Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat. Add the garlic and bay leaf and simmer for 30 minutes. At this point, remove the bay leaf and add the cream. Whip out that immersion blender and puree those vegetables. The soup will turn a nice orange color from the beta carotene in the carrots. I only mention that because it is fun to watch the transformation. Once everything is smooth as cream, add in your cheese a few ounces at a time and stir with a wooden spoon until it melts. Finish up with the final seasonings and you’re good to go.

The Payoff

Insert picture here

I have made this soup 3 times now with 3 different cheeses. It has been wonderful every time. This most recent time, I actually used the fontina that is called for in the recipe. It was very good and was the best of the 3, however, I don’t think it is worth the extra price tag. I don’t mind spending a little extra for nice cheese, but I’d rather eat it plain and enjoy the flavor than put it in a soup.

I was going to give this soup the ne’er before earned 10/10 but there is one soup that I make that I would rather have than this so Alton’s Cheese Soup gets:

Macaroni and Cheese! Who doesn’t love mac ‘n’ cheese. I know I’m a huge fan. For convenience, we typically do a “shells ‘n’ cheese” quick box when we want it as a side. However, it’s good to do a nice baked dish. This one certainly fits the bill.

The Program

1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

The Prep

There’s really nothing to the prep for this. The main thing to be aware of is that – for a side dish – it takes a lot of range and oven space. We, like most people I guess, have a 4 burner range top and one oven. So if you’re doing a bunch of other stuff, just be aware that you’re going to use 2 burners and one rack in the oven for this guy. Luckily, you can do the macaroni ahead of time if you need the burner. It also bakes for 30 minutes so you get your range back for that amount of time.

The Process

Bechamel is at the heart of the process for this. If you’re not familiar with making a roux and building a sauce, this is the best place to start. It really is not difficult. Cook the butter, flour and mustard for a couple of minutes. Get it as smooth as you can. I let mine go until I just started to smell a nice nutty aroma. At that point, slowly whisk in the the milk and keep stirring. You can not stir this too much. Add the onion, bay leaf and paprika. Simmer and stir this until it starts to thicken. At this point you temper in the egg, remove the bay leaf and stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Once the cheese is melted, add the macaroni mix it up and put it in your baking dish. I used a 9×9 glass dish and it worked well. Oh yeah, don’t forget to melt the butter and toss the bread crumbs in it to prep your topping – which goes on top of the remaining cheese that you spread across the top. Bake and enjoy!

The Payoff

This macaroni and cheese has great flavor. The mustard and paprika come through nicely in this recipe. This is the best macaroni and cheese I’ve ever made which earns it a pretty good rating…

This installment of AB and Me has me preparing Alton Brown’s rice pilaf. I love rice and will try just about any preparation I can find. Naturally, I couldn’t say no to AB and his rice.

The Program

1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
½ ea Onion, Medium – Finely Chopped
½ ea Red Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
1 ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt, plus 2 pinches
2 cups Long Grain White Rice
1 pinch Saffron, Steeped in 1/4 cup hot water
2 ½ cups Chicken Broth
1 ea Orange Zest, 1 x 2 inch strip
2 ea Bay Leaf
½ cup Frozen Peas
¼ cup Golden Raisins
¼ cup Pistachios, Chopped

The Prep

By far the most interesting part for this recipe, at least for me, is the saffron. Maybe I’ve been missing out, but I’ve never cooked with saffron before. Maybe because, by weight, it is the most expensive spice on the planet. A gram of saffron can easily cost $10 – $15 or even more. For those that might need help with the quick math that’s around $300 an ounce. Other than procuring the saffron, the rest of the prep is pretty straight forward.

The Process

This dish offers up another twist in the process. After sweating the onion and pepper in the butter, you add the rice and get it almost toasted, just until it starts to smell nutty. It will take awhile, you’ll think you’re going to burn it, but just keep stirring. “Your patience will be rewarded,” as Alton Brown would say. Once you get that nutty smell, add everything but the peas and crank up the heat.

While the mixture comes up to a boil, take a clean tea towel and soak it in water. Once the mixture is boiling, kill the heat, lay your wet towel over the top of the pot and put the lid over the towel. Fold the towel ends up over the lid and slide it into the oven.* Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then remove and let rest covered for 15 minutes.

*I don’t have lawyers like Alton, but here’s my disclaimer about putting your pot in the oven. Please be sure the manufacturer of your cookware has confirmed that it’s o.k. for both the pot and lid to go from stovetop to oven for temps up to at least 350. If you melt a plastic handle, shatter a glass lid or get poisoned from some non-stick coating that melts onto the rice that you eat, don’t come crying to me. I warned you.

The Payoff

I will admit, this is not exactly what I was expecting. That’s not to say it wasn’t good, but I’ve had many different takes on rice pilaf and this one was totally different than any of the other ones. I’m sure it was the orange zest. I may have gone a little overboard on it. I’m going to do this one again to see if I can get a little closer to Alton’s intent.