Monterey Jack Cheese Soup

Recipe from my newest member of cookbooks

I mentioned last week of receiving a cookbook from my friend Sherry in Texas after she cleverly mentioned of us exchanging cookbooks. I will tell you now, when she asked me, I immediately said yes, what a great idea. However, I hoped her cookbook would be similar to my cookbook which contains over 1200 recipes, if you count a few variations or about 1185 if you don’t. The making of it was a 3-year task to gather my family favorites with long hours of checking ingredients, quantities and, well, you get the idea. I value my work and its three generations of recipes and did not want to give it away for a 30-page picture book with only 10 recipes.

The day it arrived, I immediately held the box. It weighed pretty well so it must contain a good amount of recipes, now what about the quality. Well, I ripped opened the box and quickly became impressed, very impressed. My new bequest was indeed worthy of our exchange. I spent most of that day reading wonderful recipes, many with delightful new twists of some of my favorites and whole lot of new, tempting ones to try. Each and every one sounded tasty enough to make right then and easy enough to do it. Written by Sherry and her twin sister Terry, Two Peas in a Pod is a must have cookbook to add to your collection and I am very happy it has found a place in mine. It would also make a wonderful holiday gift for your cooking friends. Contact Sherry at her blog site Rosemary and the Goat by leaving a comment for more information.

Here is the first recipe I discovered when I flipped open the book and like all the others, sounded so darn good. Enjoy!

Monterey Jack Cheese Soup

From the cookbook Two Peas in a Pod

• 1 cup finely chopped onions
• 7 tablespoons butter, divided2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup chopped green chiles1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 5 cups milk or half & half1 cup diced tomatoes
• 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Salt and pepper to tasteParsley for garnish

In a saucepan, sauté onion in 1 tablespoons of butter for 5 minutes. Add broth, chiles and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In a large saucepan, melt remaining butter and add flour. Cook over low heat stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Heat milk and gradually add to the butter/flour mixture. Cook over low heat about 10 minutes until thickened stirring frequently. Remove broth from heat and gradually add to the milk mixture. Add tomatoes, cheese and soda to prevent curdling. Heat thoroughly stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 8

Note: As this comes to post and as hurricane Ida made shore, this soup was a comforting meal and a cherished dose of therapy, thanks again Sherry. I hurriedly snapped this photo in hopes the power would not go out.