Beer Cheese: A Tailgating Revelation OR Jordy Nelson is a Pimp

In honor of the most holy of Sundays -- SuperBowl Sunday -- we thought we'd take a beloved tailgating standby and kick it up a notch. What can we possibly do to Little Smokies to take it to the house? Oh yes....you know what's coming. I kid you not, this stuff is incredible and, more importantly incredibly easy to make! (We've got places to go, beer to drink....preferably in that order!) Below is my disjointed and somewhat freeform recipe for you all to try, adapt, and subsequently find your own perfect zen garden of cheesy goodness.

Beer Cheese

Garlic

Shiner Bock (You can use other beers but seriously...why?)

One bag shredded or 16 ounces Swiss Cheese

One bag shredded or 16 ounces Cheddar Cheese

Chicken Broth

Flour

First, chop the garlic and saute lightly in a small amount of butter until soft and beautiful. I only used one clove because my husband, we're pretty sure, is part vampire and extremely sensitive. Left to my own devices I would have probably used three. Add one and a half bottles of Shiner Bock and about a cup of chicken stock to the butter and garlic. Bring up the heat to a nice simmer, do not let it get to a hard boil. Dump your shredded cheeses into a big bowl and throw a handful of flour in with it. Toss to coat. Coat the cheese! This prevents the sauce from getting lumpy when the flour is added and you don’t have to go to all the trouble to babysit a roux. Who knew? Coat the cheese. Brilliant. Now add the cheese by handfuls to the beer, stirring regularly until its all in and it’s nice and smooth. Add a little S&P and you’re done, baby.


This amazing beer cheese sauce can be used for so many applications it will blow your mind. We used it this time to pour into a slow cooker with two packages of Little Smokies and a scoop of sauerkraut for what we call “Ballpark Smokies”. They were delicious! This could easily be adapted into a soup, a dip, a fondue; oh, the possibilities! I plan to employ this novel principle of  “Coating the Cheese” (not to be confused with the less popular “Cutting the Cheese”) the next time I make a cheese sauce of any kind.

On a side note....did anyone see Jordy Nelson (leading SuperBowl receiver and former Kansas State Wildcat) crash into the endzone for the first touchdown of SuperBowl 45?! Congratulations, Jordy! You did the Wildcat Nation proud.