4 ounces butter
1 small onion, diced. Finely diced if you're feeling funky
1 stalk celery, diced. See above regarding funk
4 ounces flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 ounces beer (darker lagers or ales. Between pale and porter)
1 - 6 ounce bottle of Crystal hot sauce
1 cup each sour cream, heavy cream, and buttermilk mixed
4 cups chicken stock
6 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
Chicken to suit. One breast cooked and shredded should do
First I should explain that this isn't a bisque. A bisque is a creamy seafood soup. Why I call it a bisque is a story for another time. Rest assured that it's an incredibly mature and reasonable story. For now, let's make the soup. It's surprisingly tasty. It's rich and spicy. Scales up very well to serve larger groups. So far it's more popular with women than men. We're working on theories about that, but it's still a new soup. Further testing may be required.
Melt the butter in a pot and add the onions and celery. I tend to dice them as fine as possible to ride the whole "bisque" thing as far as I can. Makes me feel all fancy. Sweat them on low heat until they're soft and translucent. A little browning is okay, but we want to keep this light. Add the flour and cayenne to make your roux. Warm for a bit, keeping it on low heat. Hot sauce next and beer next to thin the roux.
Note: I like Crystal for this. You can use Frank's if you're feeling traditional, but I found it made the soup taste like cheap wings. Crystal is a simple cayenne and vinegar sauce if you've never had it. Great taste and inexpensive. You could probably use whatever sauce you like as long as you're happy with the balance of heat to flavor, but try to keep your sauce simple to keep the flavors simple.
Back to the soup. Keep the heat low and give the sauce and roux time to get used to each other. While that's going on, whisk together the dairy and the stock. Add the dairy mix to the roux a cup or two at a time. Whisk it together. Let it thicken. Add more. Repeat. When all the liquid is in, add the shredded chicken. Get it warm again. Add the cheese. Stir until smooth. Warm thoroughly. Enjoy.
