Eating Oxford: Sean Adams’ Beer Cheese Soup

I ran into Oxford chef Sean Adams a couple of weeks ago after he was finishing up a shift at SnackBar. If you ever dined at Honey Bee Bakery, you probably remember and miss Sean’s daily soup specials.

So, I looked through my archives and found one of Sean’s recipes you might like to make. The one here is for the Beer Cheese Soup Sean created for an Oxford Craft Beer Festival.

Note: If you’re wondering what became of Honey Bee Bakery, Sean told me that his sister Shannon Adams has been using the commercial kitchen inside Tarasque Cucina to create her popular baked goods for special events.

Beer Cheese Soup from Chef Sean Adams

• 3 yellow onions, medium dice
• 4 carrots, peeled, medium dice
• 4 stalks celery, peeled, medium dice
• 1 tablespoon garlic purée
• 1/2 lb. cubed butter
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 6 c. milk
• 5 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 12-oz. beers at room temp (Sean used Back Forty Beer Co. Kudzu porter)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika

Sauté vegetables and garlic on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add butter, melt and mix. Add flour and mix well. Slowly whisk in milk, 1 cup at a time, whisking the whole time until thick. Whisk in cheese a little bit at a time until mixed well. Add beer slowly, whisking, being careful not to make too frothy, until all is added. Simmer for 90 minutes, purée, and add salt, pepper and paprika. Refrigerate uncovered overnight to set up. Serve the next day.

Yield: 1 gallon

Liz Barrett Foster is the EatingOxford editor for HottyToddy.com, an award-winning business journalist and author of the recently published Pizza: A Slice of American History. Liz ran the popular restaurant information site EatingOxford.com from 2009 to 2015. Liz can be reached at liz.foster@hottytoddy.com.

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