Serves: Four-six

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale
• 12 oz. aged extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3.5 Tbsp flour
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Melt butter in heavy stockpot and sauté onion over medium-low heat until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and thyme; sauté one minute more

Add flour and stir gently for about 3 minutes. Add smoked paprika, dry mustard, and salt. Cook together one minute.

Add Nut Brown Ale, stock and milk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally.

Pour soup through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon. Return the stained soup to the pot, off the heat. Stir in Worchestershire sauce, and add cheese a handful at a time, stirring gently. If soup is not smooth, pass through the sieve once more.

Spoon into bowls and top each serving with pretzel nuggets.

(Laraine Perri – DRAFT Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2008)