When I decided to make Cheeseburger Soup, I was a little put off by the name of the dish. It brought to mind sort of a greasy soup (since we all know that the best burgers are intensely greasy - apologies to Grace since she hates soggy breads!). Also, the recipe requires you to make a cheese sauce using "processed cheese, cubed". While I'm not entirely certain this is what was meant, I chose to use Velveeta cheese. If that doesn't fit the definition of "processed", I'm not sure what does.
Yet again, another first for me - I have never before purchased Velveeta cheese. I found this product near actual cheese in the grocery store, but oddly not refrigerated. Incidentally, my brand-new ceramic knives proved useless against the Velveeta. Someday soon I hope to accept that they are not effective with somewhat supple cheese products (devotees will recall they were also ineffectual for the mozzarella cheese slicing for Chicken Parmesan, p. 50), but I managed to cube it in preparation for the sauce.
I browned ground beef and onions in a skillet while preparing the broth/water/celery/carrot/potato mixture in a stockpot. Once everything was cooking away, I prepared the white sauce. The recipe instructed to make a roux using significantly more butter and flour that I normally do, but I support the notion that increasing the amount of butter in a dish will only increase its appeal, so I forged ahead. I should point out at this juncture that one of my absolute favorite cooking activities is making white sauce. It's such a simple thing to make, but so useful, and so delicious when turned into a cheese sauce. I love stirring constantly, waiting for that wonderful moment, right after you've thought "I must have done something wrong because this is never going to thicken", when the sauce magically thickens! Then, stirring in the cheese, then a little more cheese, then, once there is clearly enough cheese in there, an extra handful for good measure. I enjoyed this sauce as well, although the satisfaction of adding the Velveeta was not as complete because it took longer to melt, and, of course, I was following a recipe and couldn't just add it willy-nilly.
The sauce was a light yellow, due to the natural color of Velveeta, not the rich orange of the sharp cheddar cheese sauce that I usually prepare. There wasn't anything I could do about that, so I went ahead and drained the grease from my ground meat and onions, and added the meat/onion mixture to the stockpot, then added the cheese sauce to the stockpot, making sure the temperature was low enough that it wouldn't boil (per recipe warning). To the dish's credit, it appeared more orange/cheesy than the cheese sauce itself had, which made the whole thing look similar to a more liquid cheeseburger Hamburger Helper, with potatoes in lieu of pasta.
It was delicious, and was excellent paired with the remaining slices of Jen's Whole Wheat Bread (p. 85). My husband didn't like the celery, which he said wasn't in keeping with the cheeseburger idea, but I enjoyed the little extra crunch it provided since the rest of the soup was much softer.
On Monday, we discovered there is a possibility of a Velveeta shortage this month since it is a popular ingredient in many Super Bowl dishes, so I'm glad I made this recipe early in the month, and that I have half a block leftover for another dish! Thanks, Angie!
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