Welsh Rabbit

Lest there be some concern that we've fed Bugs or the oversized guy that drops off our Easter baskets to Molly for dinner, fear not. If you've never heard of welsh rabbit before, it's not really rabbit.

I do like rabbit, but don't cook it often (hmmm...can you see lightbulb over my head?). This dish, another one that's been propelled forward through the years as a childhood memory, is wonderful for 2 reasons. First, its name is totally misleading - funny now, even better when you're a kid. Second, it's major ingredients are bacon, cheese, beer and bread.

Bacon.

Cheese.

Beer.

Bread.

Yeah, I'll admit there are some tomatoes in there too (think of them as a cheese delivery system). The dish is like a big, melty, beery BLT, without any of that pesky rabbit food getting in the way (ha...rabbit food)*.

For my childhood version, I distinctly remember getting to stir up the cheese into the double broiler until it turned into a big sloppy mess, add the mustard, the beer (it was Heineken), take a sip of the beer, add some milk and keep stirring and stirring and tasting with a cheesy index finger. Cooking as a kid, the idea of anything beer related is exciting - like you're getting away with something you shouldn't be.

The following recipe stays pretty faithful to what I remember. There are recipes out there that start off with a roux, but that seems unnecessary. I like the sauce a little liquidy, so when you pour it over the other stuff it manages to find all the voids and overwhelm them with cheese. It's still thick enough to stick around and not run away when you assemble a bite on your fork.

I've also upgraded my memory and replaced the pale, minature slices of Pepperidge Farm sandwich bread that were common in our kitchen back then with toasted chunks from a big, crusty boule.

The cheese is probably the most important ingredient, so get a good sharp one. For the beer, I think that Newcastle Brown Ale is about the best all purpose cooking beer there is.

Welsh Rabbit

10 oz sharp cheddar cheese
1 TB butter
3/4 C of beer/milk combined - pick your own ratio, more or less for soupier or thicker sauce
1 egg
Worcestershire sauce (squirt)
Dry mustard (pinch)
Salt/pepper (pinches)
Cayenne/Hot sauce (pinch/squirt)

Bacon, cooked and crumbled
Grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 LB loaf of crusty bread, cut in 1" cubes

Shred the cheese and add the butter, salt and mustard/cayenne to taste (a big pinch of each usually). Melt in a double boiler (or bowl set over boiling water) until the cheese has turned into a melted blob. Mix the beer/milk, egg and a few dashes of the worcestershire sauce together until the egg is beaten and add to the cheese. Stir it well until most of the lumps are gone - this will never be a truly smooth sauce.

As the sauce is finishing up, spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and put under the broiler until toasted.

To assemble - put a handful of the toasted bread in a bowl, sprinkle on tomatoes and bacon, and spoon the cheese sauce over the top. Add some more bacon on top if desired...and really, it should be desired

-----------------------------------
* I swear, we're having kale salad for dinner tonight to make up for it.

Comments

[Ajf 4]

Because we are rich, so we need friends ， needto pay for friendship.This is my blog. If you are interested, welcome to my blog!

[Wholesale jerseys]

Very great post.I just happen to find your network blog, I want to say I enjoyed your blog posts. In any case I have finished reading it, I hope you continue to write down!