Ranger India Pale Ale Cheesy Popcorn Soup and 1554 Enlightened Black Ale Battered Onion Rings @newbelgium @foodbuzz

I was given a challenge by New Belgium Brewing Company and Foodbuzz to come up with the ultimate recipe using one of the many types of beer produced by New Belgium Brewing Company. I was thrilled to take the challenge and I consider the challenge a great success! Not only did I come up with a main dish, but I also added a twisted side dish to accompany my Beer Cheese Soup. Instead of adding a boring loaf of bread I added Beer Battered Onion rings to round out this amazing meal! 

Beer cheese soup is really popular in the Midwest according to my husband. He loves it and asked me to make it one night for dinner. I did, but in my opinion the recipe I used was subpar. I wanted a beer cheese soup that was not only bold, but I wanted to kick it up with a little spice. I suppose you could say that’s the southern girl in me. If the recipe doesn’t have a lot of flair it typically doesn’t interest me. What can I say I am a Cajun girl and require everything to be kicked up? Enjoy!

*Ranger India Pale Ale Cheesy Popcorn Soup* 

Ingredients

• 3 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 medium white onion chopped
• 3 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning  (In a pinch you could use season salt )
• 2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup
• 2 cans condensed nacho cheese soup
• 2 cups of Jalapeno Pepper Jack Cheese
• 1 1/2 can chicken stock
• 2 cans  of evaporated milk
• 1 bottle of Ranger India Pale Ale
• 6 cups of popped popcorn to garnish

Directions

1.      In a large pot add chopped celery, chopped onion and salted butter sauté’ for about 5 minutes until your vegetables are tender.

2.     To your vegetables add cayenne and old bays and cook for another minute.

3.     Add all four cans of cheese soup, Jalapeno Pepper Jack Cheese, chicken stock, evaporated milk, and 1 bottle of Ranger India Pale Ale. Stir all together until the condensed soups are well stirred in.

4.     Simmer on a medium heat until the soup is heated through. Try not to bring the soup to a boil to prevent burning. A slow cooked soup only makes this recipe better.  

5.     Garnish the Beer Cheese Soup with popped popcorn once it’s ladled in each serving bowl. Enjoy!

*1554 Enlightened Black Ale Battered Onion Rings*

Ingredients:

  

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon garlic powder

·         1/4 teaspoon white pepper

·         1/2 teaspoon paprika

·         1/2 teaspoon season salt

·         2 large white onions 

·         1 cup 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

·         vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. Combine all of your ingredients above (except for the oil) in a bowl and mix all together.
2. I recommend refrigerating for at least one hour which helps allow the batter to thicken, and the flavors to mingle, but it’s not necessary to still make the recipe amazing!
3. Preheat your vegetable oil in a frying pan to 375 degrees. 3 inches of oil
4. Peel onions and cut the onion into rings.
5. In small batches, dip the onions in the onion ring batter then place them in the oil. Fry the onion rings until the are a nice golden brown.
6. Once your onion rings are cooked place them on a paper towel to drain. Add salt and pepper if desired.
7. While you are cooking the other ring you can place the cooked onion rings in a pan in a warm oven heated at 2oo degrees just warm enough to keep your rings warm while the others are being cooked.

*As required by the Federal Trade Commission: Colie's Kitchen was compensated for this post. All that was asked of Colie's Kitchen was to review the product, and create a recipe.*