Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

The weather turned pretty cold the other day and the good wife wanted soup to combat the chill.  That got me to thinking about what I had on hand to make soup with since I didn't feel like getting back out to go to the store.  I was able to make this with stuff already in the pantry since they are all staples for us.

Ground beef and onions

Now, I know cheese burger soup is a thing and has been around for quite some time.  The good wife has made it a few times from a recipe she found in a Taste of Home magazine.  While these are good, they all seem to rather thick and heavy.  I also question what kind of cheese burger has carrots and other vegetables like many of these recipes.  When you look online, many of the recipes describe the soup as luxurious, creamy, or rich so you know they'll be thick and heavy.  What I came up with is lighter feeling but still quite filling.


Bacon Cheese Burger Soup


1 lb ground beef
8 oz sliced bacon
1 medium white onion, diced
8 oz elbow macaroni
32-48 oz chicken broth
4 oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
3/4 cup milk
salt
pepper
garlic powder


Cut the bacon slices into 1/2 inch wide pieces and heat in a skillet until almost crispy.  Remove the bacon from the skillet and pour the bacon grease into your grease pot for future use.  Put the skillet back on the stove and add the ground beef.  Season the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder as you would a hamburger.  As the ground beef browns, break it up and add the onion.  Once the ground beef and onion are done remove from heat.  In a stock pot, melt the butter and add the flour and stir.  Once the butter and flour come together to make a light roux, add about 3/4 cup of chicken broth to hydrate the flour, stirring well to keep smooth.  Once the broth is absorbed, add the milk and stir to combine.  Add the Velveeta cubes to the béchamel sauce to start melting.  Once the Velveeta is mostly melted, start adding the Fontina and Cheddar and continue stirring until all the cheeses are melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth, at least enough to total 32 ounces and mix well.  Add the ground beef and onion mixture as well as the bacon and stir to mix well.  Cook the elbow macaroni and add the drained noodles to the stock pot and stir.  If you want the soup a bit thinner, add up to another 16 ounces of chicken broth.  Taste and add seasoning if desired.  Let the completed soup simmer for 30 minutes to help meld the flavors and stir occasionally.  Serves 4-6 people.  To further evoke the cheese burger theme, you could garnish the soup with chopped dill pickles.

A pot of cheesy goodness

I used the full 48 ounces of chicken broth.  If I'd had beef broth I may have tried it but I think the chicken broth is a better choice since it is rather mild flavored and lets the main ingredients shine.  For the seasoning of the ground beef, I used a personal ready made blend of the three seasonings that I call GPS.   I used to just call it grill seasoning until I saw the BBQ Pit Boys on YouTube and they have their own blend they call SPG.  I like putting them in alphabetical order.  I used the GPS generously on the ground beef while it was browning since it had the onion with it and didn't need to add anything at the end.

A good bowl of Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

As a note, I had lots of egg whites left from another recipe and had scrambled them for a treat for the dogs.  The good wife likes eggs in any form and was snatching bites out of the skillet.  Since the leftover soup wouldn't fit in one container we split the little remaining in the pot.  The good wife wanted scrambled egg whites put on top of hers.  She convinced me to do the same and I must say it was pretty tasty.  I'm not saying make eggs to add to the soup, but don't be afraid to garnish the soup with what you have on hand or what might suit your fancy.


Give this soup a try.  Like any soup, it gets better with age so enjoy the leftovers.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Ultimate Grilled Chicken Breast

OK, I don't know that these are the Ultimate, but they are pretty tasty.  Ultimate is one of those words that get thrown around in the culinary world till they have no meaning.  It is in the same realm as the phrase, cooked to perfection.  This habit is particularly prominent among TV chefs and those hoping to be.  My question is always, "If it's not cooked to perfection, why would you send it out to a customer?"  One TV chef even has Ultimate in his show's name which to me sounds like he thinks his version of dishes is the ultimate version.  I've watched his show and have not always been impressed, especially when he screws with traditional dishes.  Now that my mini rant is over, on with the more serious stuff.

Cheesy, peppery goodness

A more proper name for this would be Grilled Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I know some will say that adding bacon to it makes it ultimate.  I'll agree that adding bacon to most anything makes it awesome.  I decided to do this for a couple of reasons.  One is to use up things we've canned from the garden.  The other reason is that due to weather and other issues popping up, I haven't been able to use the grill or smoker as often as I'd like.  Yes, I grill/smoke year round but combining wind and rain makes temperature control difficult and I hate my grilled/smoked food getting rained on as I'm  taking it inside.

The raw ingredients for greatness

The beauty of doing chicken breasts this way is that you can easily tailor it to suit your tastes or what you have on hand.  I'll tell you how I did it and then you can follow suit or use it as a guideline to do your own thing.


Ultimate Grilled Chicken Breast


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz jar poblano peppers
Fontina cheese
Swiss cheese
bacon


Cut a pocket in each chicken breast by slicing down the middle of the breast without going all the way through and stopping 1 inch from each end.  Then cut a pocket in each side trying to get the top and bottom to be the same thickness.  Divide the poblano peppers between the breasts and place evenly in the pockets.  Add as much of the two cheeses as you can to each breast and still close the pocket.  Starting at the large end, start wrapping the breast with bacon.  Once completed, let the bacon wrapped breasts sit on a tray until the grill is ready.  Place on a hot grill with the cut side down.  Once the bacon has cooked and is done turn the breasts over to complete cooking.  Once the chicken is done, remove from grill and allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Goodness on the grill

To accompany the chicken breasts, I fixed Parmesan roasted potatoes and sautéed carrots with a brandy and butter sauce.  It was a highly flavorful meal.  Luckily, I made enough potatoes for leftovers and an extra chicken breast to take to work for my lunch the next day.  Where is it written that a work lunch has to be boring?

An awesome supper

A quick word on the carrots.  They were sauteed in butter with 4 smashed cloves of garlic and and 3 thin slices of ginger.  Once they were almost done, a couple of ounces of brandy was added to the skillet and cooked down to make the pan sauce.  Finish it with a light pinch of kosher salt.

 See, a quick simple way to make grilled chicken much more flavorful.  Give this a try and create your own ultimate.  Let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T