Monday, October 27, 2014

Welsh Rarebit - Away A While Recipe Favorites



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Those of you who remember waffles for dinner on Sunday night, will also recall tonight's feature recipe. While Welsh rarebit has fallen out of fashion, back in the day it made regular appearances on American tables. At its most basic, the dish is simple and consists only of toast over which a thick cheese sauce is poured. We are told that in 18th century England  the poor ate rabbit, while in Wales, where rarebit originated, the population was so poor that rabbit was replaced with cheese. While I'm sure the story is apocryphal, it does help explain how the dish got its name. There are many versions of this recipe, some of which predate the settlement of colonial America, but they all share a common base of bread and cheese. The best of them are made with a sauce so velvety that, in theory, you'll forget there is no meat. More to the point, if you are fortunate enough to have one of the best versions, you won't care that there is no meat. This happens to be one of my favorite quick-fix meals and I make it often, using soup and a small green salad to round it out and make it substantial enough to serve as a light supper. For years, I used Jeff Smith's version of rarebit, but I when I stumbled on Alton Brown's recipe, which is made with a caraway rye bread, I switched my allegiance. These days, while it is probably overkill, I make the rye bread I use, so I can control the thickness of the rarebit base. I must also admit that I've become a bit of a cheese snob. While I'm not particular about its country of origin, I insist on using an aged white cheddar for the cheese sauce. I have a simple recipe for a light rye bread that I'll share with you tomorrow, but tonight I want to focus on the cheese sauce and the assembly of the rarebit. Please give this recipe a try. You will not regret it. The recipe for this rarebit can be found here.

Follow Me on Pinterest                    

                                                    Older Posts



                One Year Ago Today:                                                        Two Years Ago Today:
       Cranberry and Almond Quick Bread                                       Hazelnut-Anise Cookies


                Three Years Ago Today:                                                 Four Years Ago Today: 
           Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares                                            Warm Black Bean Dip


6 comments :

Chiara said...

looks so tasty and delicious, have a good week, blessings

Anonymous said...

I'm dying to try this, but I've never heard of Porter beer nor seen it in stores. Will regular beer do, or some other type?

Mary Bergfeld said...

Anon, try a dark ale.

Mari said...

Like Guiness? I don't know much about beer. Will it say "dark ale" on the label? Thanks.

Mary Bergfeld said...

Mari, Guinness would work here, but if you have questions ask the proprietor about dark ales and he'll pick one for you. It is hard to beat
the Irish or English dark ales.

Mari said...

Thanks, Mary. I can't wait to try this.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Printfriendly