Cheddar Cheese Soup Supreme

I found this recipe in the newspaper. For those of you too young to remember those, they were actual paper sheets, printed with the latest news, folded together and wedged into a plastic bag and thrown somewhere near your driveway every morning. This was before news agencies stopped caring about whether something was true or not, versus it being a sensational tidbit that would increase their readership. [Steps down from rant-box.] Ahem. In any case, on Wednesdays they had a food section, and (aside from the comics) it was my favorite part of the paper.

In any case, this soup is a favorite at our house. It underwent a brief period of exile when we were counting calories and not carbs, which will tell you that this is NOT diet food. But it's low-carb (not NO-carb), so we're eating it again.  Once you start the cooking, you generally have to stay with it until it's finished. This is not a simmering soup. But it's worth the commitment.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons butter (you can use margarine if you want)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion (generally I just use one small to medium, but you can use frozen chopped onion if you have it, or you can reconstitute dried onions to make 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper (I use one whole pepper, unless it's enormous, because what am I going to do with the other half?)
• 5 Tablespoons flour (all purpose or self-rising, it doesn't matter)
• 3 (10.5 oz) cans of condensed chicken broth (except I usually just use 2 cans of regular broth equalling about 30 oz. of liquid, or I make up broth out of bouillon, or I use homemade broth) (you can substitute vegetable broth here if you want to make this vegetarian)
• 3 cups grated sharp cheddar
• 2 cups milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skim, whatever you like, but the richer the milk, the richer the flavor of your finished product)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper
• 1/2 cup croutons (we like the big ones, but whatever you have on hand)
• chopped parsley for garnish

Procedure:

1. Do your chopping first, if you're using fresh vegetables. If you have to make up the broth from bouillon, you should do that before you light the fire, because this soup really isn't something you can walk away from while it cooks. I like to measure stuff out before starting, too, so I have the flour, broth, milk, and cheese all ready to go.
2. Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan and cook the onion and green pepper for 6-10 minutes, stirring frequently so they don't scorch. You want then to be pretty soft.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the flour. Mix it well and return it to the heat, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. It will be pasty. (Don't skip cooking the flour; you can taste it if it's not cooked enough.)
4. Add the broth to the vegetable mixture and bring it to a boil, stirring to thoroughly blend, break up clumps. 
5. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-high. Add the cheese, a handful at a time, stirring each addition to melt it. Keep stirring so it doesn't scorch. Gradually add the milk while stirring. Season with salt and pepper. Bring just up to boiling, but do not boil. The milk might curdle.
6. Serve with croutons and sprinkle with parsley (it can be fresh or dried).

I like this with bread, more than croutons.