SG Archive: Welsh Rarebit
Phoney Coney
When I was around 10 my family visited Colonial Williamsburg. I only remember one thing from that trip: My first taste of Welsh Rarebit (or rabbit, the etymology is rather confused). It was at Chowning's Tavern (I remembered that as well) and I adored it. Smooth unctuous cheddar with a hint of spiciness served on crisp toast and contrasted with the bright acid flavor of tomato. Seriously good stuff.
However, in the intervening years I'd developed a recipe of my own and it remains my favorite.
Although toast is traditional, my favorite base for rarebit is homemade English muffins.
Try rarebit with...
No-Knead English Muffins
Tomatoes Parmigiano
Fried Okra
When I was around 10 my family visited Colonial Williamsburg. I only remember one thing from that trip: My first taste of Welsh Rarebit (or rabbit, the etymology is rather confused). It was at Chowning's Tavern (I remembered that as well) and I adored it. Smooth unctuous cheddar with a hint of spiciness served on crisp toast and contrasted with the bright acid flavor of tomato. Seriously good stuff.
However, in the intervening years I'd developed a recipe of my own and it remains my favorite.
Welsh Rarebit
Serves 4.
24 oz. sharp cheddar cheese — shredded
1 cup beer
2 tbsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 tbsp butter
Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over low heat. Add cheese a small handful at a time and stir until melted. (Note: The butter and cheese will tend to remain separate.) Whisk in half of beer. (This should combine the butter and cheese.) Add additional beer in small increments until mixture is a smooth sauce. Whisk in remaining ingredients.
Note: Depending on the cheese and your preferred consistency you may not need all the beer or may need a bit more.
Although toast is traditional, my favorite base for rarebit is homemade English muffins.
Try rarebit with...
No-Knead English Muffins
Tomatoes Parmigiano
Fried Okra
4 Comments:
So, does the beer cook off and is the alcohol content gone? Can I serve this to young people? Sounds easy and I can't wait to make it but I have underage children.
Alice
Alice,
You never vook off all the alcohol in a dish - there is always a bit. However, let's estimate how much alcohol is actually in the dish. Beer is typically 3 - 7 percent alcohol so let's call it 5% and let's guess that in the 15 - 20 minutes of cooking you reduce that by half to 2.5%. The total amount of the dish is about 3 cups including the beer so the beer is a third of it. Therefore the final alcohol content is .025 * .33 = .825% - less than 1% alcohol in the final dish.
What's your beer recommendation? A lager? Something with a bit more malt to it?
Bill,
I particularly like Irish Harp lager.
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