Six O'Clock Solution: Vermont cheddar soup you can take to the bank

Good, strong cheddar cheese is the real secret.

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A batch of this soup is like money in the bank; just a cupful makes a lunch.

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The recipe is a staple at Simon Pearce, a restaurant and shop in Queechee, Vt. The chef who created it, Paul Langhans, recommends making the soup a day ahead so flavours can develop. Good, strong cheddar cheese is the real secret.

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It is one of 10 soups in a collection of 120-plus recipes in The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook: Homegrown Recipes From the Green Mountain State (Countryman/Penguin Random House, $34.95) by Vermonter Tracey Medeiros, author of six cookbooks. It's an inviting read from a state with a history of farm-to-table food, and is beautifully illustrated — foods, their producers, livestock and spectacular scenery — with photographs by Oliver Parini. The book is an expanded edition originally published in 2013.

Serves 6

½ cup (125 mL/1 medium carrot) grated carrot

½ cup (125 mL/1 stalk) minced celery

½ cup (125 mL) unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon (5 mL) chopped fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

½ cup (125 mL) all-purpose flour

4 cups (1 L) chicken or vegetable stock

12 ounces (3 cups/350g/750 mL shredded) extra-strong cheddar cheese

1 cup (250 mL) 15 per cent or cooking cream

Kosher or coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper

Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Cook carrots and celery for one minute in a medium pan of boiling water. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Increase heat to medium and cook onion, thyme and bay leaf together until onion is translucent.

Reduce heat to low, stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Then increase heat to medium and cook until flour mixture bubbles.

Stir in stock, 1 cup (250 mL) at a time, stirring to blend mixture. Whisk until smooth.

Add cheese, a cupful at a time, stirring as the cheese melts. Then stir in the cooked vegetables and the cream, and heat, stirring, until soup is smooth.

Remove bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot, each bowlful trimmed with parsley and a drizzle of Worcestershire sauce.

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included Serves 6