Autumn soup is where it’s at right now, as we find more good reasons to cosy up at home as the cold weather sets in. Today we bring you one of our very favourites – chowder!
Originally a derivation of the French word chaudière, meaning cauldron, you can find a wide variety of these types of rich soup across the United States, from cream-based New England Clam or Boston Clam Chowder (a staple at any Pickle & Rye Thanksgiving) to Manhattan Chowder, which replaces the cream with a thinner tomato broth. Versions of this thicker type of soup can also focus in on one star-of-the-show ingredient from seafood, to corn, to veal, depending on the region and season.
Today’s hearty version comes from the Midwest of America; Cheeseburger Chowder is, for us, the ultimate comfort food. It makes us want to cozy up to a warm fire, put on the easy jazz station and watch the falling rain outside.
Combining all your favourite ingredients into a rib sticking, comforting, spicy soup is the premise of this recipe. Traditionally chowders are often thickened with bread or crackers. For the full effect and optimum soul-warming experience we highly recommend ladling this dish into a hollowed out round loaf of bread, known as a bread bowl, so you can soak up and savour every last drop.
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Jalapeño Cheeseburger Chowder
Ingredients
- 500g beef mince
- 1 large white onion, finely diced
- 44g (approx. 3 tbsp.) unsalted butter
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, deseeded and diced (or keep seeds in for additional heat!)
- 1 tsp. chilli flakes
- 1 tsp. parsley flakes
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- 420g Maris Piper potatoes or another fluffy/floury (vs. waxy) variety, peeled and cubed
- 480ml beef stock
- 30g all-purpose flour
- 480ml milk
- 230g mild cheddar cheese, grated
- 115g Red Leister cheese, grated
- 115g mature cheddar cheese, grated
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by prepping all ingredients, peeling and dicing your onion, carrot, celery, garlic, jalapenos and potatoes. Grate all of your cheeses in a separate bowl.
- In a large deep-sided saucepan over a medium-high heat, brown beef mince, breaking up the ground beef into small bits as it cooks. Once the meat has browned add in the chopped white onion and continue to cook until onions are translucent and soft. Tip the mince and onions into a bowl and set aside for later.
- In the same pan, melt 14g/1 tbsp. butter. Then, add diced carrot and celery. Sauté for five minutes or so, until the celery is softened and slightly translucent. Once the celery is slightly translucent, add diced garlic, jalapeño and dried herbs, plus 1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp. black pepper and stir constantly for five minutes or so, taking care not to burn the garlic.
- Next, stir in cubed potatoes, cooked beef/onion mixture and beef stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked but not overly soft.
- As the soup simmers, in a separate medium-sized pot, melt the remaining butter on med-high heat. You will be making a cheese roux for your soup. Once butter is melted, stir in gradually your flour to cook out the raw flour flavour – approx. 1-2 minutes, and then season with 1 tsp. salt.
- Next, whilst still on a medium-high heat, slowly pour the milk into your roux, slowly whilst continuing to stir. Now the task is to keep things moving, continuing to stir your sauce until it begins to thicken (normally 5-10 minutes depending). Once it begins to thicken to a more sauce-like consistency, add grated cheeses and continue to mix until cheese has fully melted. If ever the milk begins to bubble over or rise during this process, reduce your heat.
- Once you have finished making your cheese sauce, pour it into your beef broth soup and mix until fully combined and creamy.
- Serve soup in individual, scooped out bread bowls or normal soup bowl with any of your favourite toppings! We like topping ours with sour cream, halved cherry tomatoes and chives.
- Serve immediately.
