Queens Lace Soup

I cook by the oldest method known to man .. trial and error. If anyone wishes to quantify the ingredients in this recipe then be my guest and please share so I can add them to this recipe.

Make the whitesauce base. I make a 1:1 rue of WHITE flour and REAL butter according to the size of the pot I wish to fill. (five or less servings is 1&1 and up to 30 is 2&2 etc). Add milk until the rue is unable to compensate or the pot is 3/4 full.

Grate a white cheddar cheese (I usually start with about 1 pound to be certain I have enough) and add until it reconstitutes the whitesauce base. Add more if you can still taste more sauce than cheese. The balance here is very slightly in favor of the cheese.

Finely chop one or two peeled carrots. By finely chop I mean very very extra small and thin slivers. Or processor until almost a paste. Add this a pinch at a time until the carrotin causes the sauce to have a golden glow to it. The carrot slivers should create the lace as some of them float on the surface.

Add Grated Parmasean cheese just before removing from heat. This is used as a flavor enhancer so you may choose to add none, or as much as you wish. I suggest no more than about 2TBS per gallon finished soup.

Special considerations: As you can see, this can be a heavy sauce soup at times so near-constant stirring is a must while it is on the stove.

I used a votive candle warming plate when I served this at a SCA Feast. It kept the soup nicely warm without trying to cook it further.