Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Roquefort Cheese Soup

Sigh.  As many old recipes are, this one is lacking on the instructional input.  It comes from my great grandma, Elizabeth Wheadon Wetherbee of Alexandria, LA.  I'm learning a little about her and my family's former generations.  Her grandpa, T. C. Wheadon, opened the Alexandria Hotel at the start of 1900, only to be trumped by the historic Hotel Bentley a few years later.  Who knows, maybe this soup was served in the hotel's restaurant.



Ingredients
2 quarts Chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 pint coffee cream
1 pkg. Roquefort Cheese
1 Tbsp. Parsley, chopped
4 slices crisped bacon, crumbled

Directions
Serve immediately with toasted croutons.

Well, I began this one like I do many soups.  I snipped my bacon into little pieces and fried them up, transferring the bacon bits to a paper towel-lined plate when done.  I chopped my veggies and sauteed them in the bacon fat.  Use olive oil or butter if you want to skip the bacon.  When the vegetables had gone soft, I added my chicken stock and cream.  I added the cheese at the end, along with the parsley, and then I adjusted with seasoning.  Salt, pepper, creole spice, and the like.  I topped the bowls with the crumbled bacon.

I wasn't totally in love with the soup; I'll be honest.  Something seemed to be lacking.  So here's a similar recipe from Emeril Legasse.  Maybe between the two, I can find a happy combination and make it all my own.  Let me know if you've experimented with a similar recipe for Roquefort soup and how it turned out for you.  I'd love any tips.

2 comments:

Michelle B said...

I think my husband would like this soup--he's big on Roquefort quiche. Really cool to think that this could have been served at the hotel's restaurant back in the day.

GardenOfDaisies said...

Sometimes cooking is a big experiment (as my family has learned .... the hard way.)
I want to wish you and your family a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!