Bacon Cheddar Apple Soup

I wanted to make a bacon cheddar soup to bring to a party, and didn't want to use beer as an ingredient since there were going to be a lot of kids there (yes, I know it can cook out - just didn't want to deal with it...)

I found some good recipes out there, but none that I loved so I decided to improvise off of a few recipes. Neither of these had bacon: Apple Cheese Soup and Cheddar Apple Soup. And Apple-Cheddar Soup With Bacon used a potato, which adds a different flavor than what I was going for. (If you wanted to do this gluten-free, the potato would be a good substitute for the flour!)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound slab bacon, diced
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 apples, peeled, cored and diced - I used Gala apples. Granny Smith would be good, but a little more tart.
• 2-4 tablespoons of butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 5 cup chicken stock (hot, but not boiling)
• 3 tablespoons mustard powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Few dashes of hot sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (for flavor, not heat...)
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

• Sautee bacon in large pot over medium heat for 5-8 minutes until cooked, but still soft. Remove back from pot and save for end of recipe- leave bacon grease in pot.
• Add onions, sautee for 5 minutes.
• Add apples to onions, and sautee for 3-5 more minutes until they start to brown.
• Add butter and flour, stir to make a roux.
• When roux starts to darken, add chicken stock and bring to boil. Once boiling, lower to simmer.
• Add mustard powder, salt, pepper, cayenne and a few dashes of hot sauce.
• Blend with immersion blender on high setting until smooth and a little frothy.
• Lower immersion blender to low setting, and slowly add cheddar cheese to soup until melted and smooth
• Add cooked bacon back to soup. I decided I wanted small bacon pieces, so I did a quick pulse blend to make them smaller.
• Serve!

Bread, especially pretzel bread, is a great pairing. We brought this to a party, and someone brought fresh Philly pretzels, which ended up as an accidentally amazing accompaniment.

Copyright 2017 - David Etue

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