Welsh rarebit

 

Picture from Hertfordstreet.com

Welsh rarebit

My mom used to make a dish she called Welsh rarebit. As a child I thought she was saying rabbit, though I knew there was no bunny in this dish. It was, as far as I could tell, melted cheese poured over saltine crackers. To this day I don’t know if there was any more than that to Mom’s version. But I do remember serving it once to my four teens, only to have Colin, my most outspoken food critic, asked queriously, “This is dinner?”

Well, I’ve learned a thing or two since then, and the other night I served Welsh rarebit, garnished with pickled onion and fresh watercress, to a guest who loved it. To make Welsh rarebit you pour a cheese sauce over toast and then grill or broil it. No one is sure that Welsh rarebit traces to Wales, but we do know that it first surfaced in Great Britain in the eighteenth century. It was, indeed, called Welsh rabbit, but the name was changed to avoid confusion. Apparently, Brits also eat a dish simply called cheese on toast (they put everything on toast and mostly, it’s delicious). I’ve also heard it said that rabbit or rarebit is a variation of the Welsh “rare bit,” or small bite.

Here's what I did the other night. This is supposed to serve four. Leftovers do not keep well.

Welsh rarebit

1.5 Tbsp. butter

1.5 Tbsp. flour

½ tsp. dry mustard

1.5 cup stout or beer (I usually use stout, but next time think I’ll use a lighter ale because the stout makes the sauce an unattractive muddy brown)

½ cup water

2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Thick slices peasant bread, such as sourdough

½ lb. extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

½ Tbsp, olive oil

Toast the bread

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Whisk in flour and mustard and cook a couple of minutes, whisking. Stir in beer, water, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until sauce is thickened and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Separately toss watercress with olive oil, a pinch of salt, and pickled onions.

Pour cheese sauce over toast on plates and garnish with watercress mixture. Serve while hot.

Note that I didn’t feel it necessary to put the cheese toast under the broiler. Plain cheese sauce on toast doesn’t have much eye appeal but the garnish took care of that. And the crunch and tang of the onion was a nice contrast to the rich and velvety sauce.

Optional: you can top the cheese toast with a fried egg –this is a buck rabbit or golden rabbit; if you mix a little tomato or tomato sauce with the cheese, it is a blushing bunny.

Mom used to serve this in front of the fireplace on winter Sunday evenings when we traditionally had a lighter supper. It’s fairly rich, so you don’t really need a side dish. If you want to serve something else with it, I’d make it a salad.

How to quick pickle onion

Use pickled onion any time you want that contrast of taste and texture—great on burgers, grilled cheese, salads, you name it.

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

½ cup water

½ cup vinegar (you may use all cider vinegar or half cider and half distilled white)

1.5 tsp. honey

1.5 tsp. fine sea salt

Red pepper flakes (optional, and I didn’t)

Slice the onion and pack it into a pint canning jar, such as a Mason jar—just be sure it is heat-proof.

Heat remaining ingredients to a simmer and pour over onion, being careful to avoid splashes of hot vinegar. Let it sit without top of jar for at least half an hour at room temperature. Then put the lid on and refrigerate.

Mwynhewch eich bwyd (happy eating in Welch!).