Anyone can lay a few slices of cheese on toast and melt them, but creating a thick sauce of cheese, beer and spices and then spreading it on toast creates one of the best late-night snacks I know. This is Welsh rarebit, or rabbit, a traditional British dish whose name has a long and complicated history, one we will not go into here.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
- ¾ cup strong dark beer, like Guinness
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
- 1 pound Cheddar, Double Gloucester or other English cheese (or other good semi-hard cheese, like Comté or Gruyère, or a mixture), grated
- 4 to 8 pieces lightly toasted bread
4 or more servings
Preparation
- Put butter in a saucepan over medium heat and, as it melts, stir in flour. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and very fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in mustard and cayenne, then whisk in beer and Worcestershire sauce.
- When mixture is uniform, turn heat to low and stir in cheese, again stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and pour into a broad container to set (you can refrigerate for up to a day at this point).
- Spread mixture thickly on toast and put under broiler until bubbly and edges of toast are crisp. Serve immediately.
20 minutes
Dining and Cooking