Potato, Onion, and Roquefort Soup
Recipe courtesy Emeril
Lagasse, 2001
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions, thinly
sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes,
peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup crumbled Roquefort, or
other creamy blue cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh
thyme
2 tablespoons
6 slices bacon, cooked and
crumbled
Blue Cheese and Walnut
Crumpets, recipe follows
In a large saucepan, melt the
butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until just
beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring,
for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, cayenne, and bay leaf, and
cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the
heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 25
to 30 minutes.
Remove and discard the bay
leaf. Remove from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender, or in
batches in a food processor, until smooth. Add the light and heavy creams, and
stir well to blend. Gently reheat and barely simmer, being careful not to boil.
Add 3/4 cup of the cheese, the thyme, and Port, and whisk until the cheese is
just melted. Adjust the seasonings, to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls,
and top each with some of the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and the crumbled
bacon. Serve immediately with the Blue Cheese and Walnut Crumpets.
Blue Cheese and Walnut
Crumpets:
5 ounces Roquefort or other
creamy blue cheese, crumbled
5 teaspoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons
7 teaspoons chopped walnuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 crumpets or English
muffins, split
16 walnut halves
In a bowl, cream together the
cheese and butter. Add the Port, walnuts, and salt, and mix until creamy.
Lightly toast each crumpet or
muffin half. Spread about 1 heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture onto each
of the 16 crumpet or muffin halves and top each with half a walnut. Toast until
just bubbling. Serve immediately with the Potato, Onion, and Roquefort Soup.