Welsh Rabbit/Welsh Rarebit Recipe

[Saviolo]

This is one of those recipes that has about a million variations. It can range from just slices of cheese melted on toast up to something a little more complicated like what we've done here. Essentially we've made a sauce mornay using cheddar, Dubliner, mustard, and a lovely dark beer (a porter in this case). Important considerations for this recipe are things like the quality of your bread, the type of cheeses you want to use, and the type of beer you want to use, as these will all affect the final product.

You want to make sure that the cheese you're using isn't too dry and has a decent fat content, or you run the risk of the sauce breaking. Also, the type of beer you use will change the flavour profile significantly. A very dark beer like a stout is traditional, but a porter or bock will work excellently. You might even get away with a strong Belgian ale (a trippel or quadruppel would give a sweet, malty accent). We do recommend serving this with a sour slaw or something similar, because it is extremely rich and unctuous and something bright to cut the very round flavour really helps out. Some fresh herbs sprinkled on top will also brighten up the very rich aroma, too (we used thyme).

[soothsayer]

1. Very interesting. Never made nor had it. Sounds right up my alley tho

[yellowdogintexas]

3. it is so good! nt

[yellowdogintexas]

2. I like seeing it called Welsh Rabbit

that is what we always called it.

My mom made a mean rabbit, using a mix of some excellent super sharp cheese mixed with a soft cheddar to provide the fat needed

She did not use beer; she did use Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. She also put an egg in it.

We ate it on saltines with onion and pickles. It was our traditional New Year's Eve dish.

I make it with a roux; she shook up flour and milk together and added to the sauce.

This makes me want to make it

[Saviolo]

7. So many variations!

This is one of Those Recipes where there are as many different ways to make it as there are families that make it. Onion and pickle make a great accompaniment for this, since it's so unctuous, it's great to have something small and crisp and tangy to cut all those round flavours. Also helps to use a nice sour sourdough bread.

[rsdsharp]

4. When I was a kid, we would visit my aunt in Des Moines.

Younkers, a downtown department store, had a tea room on one of the upper floors. One of the things it served was Welsh Rarebit. I now live in the Des Moines area, and worked across the street for years.

Younkers is out of business, all the stores are closed, and the downtown location burned to the ground about five years ago. But I still remember the rarebit. The last time I had it was the day of the Branch Davidian fire.

[crud]

5. My Welsh Rarebit story

I met my new sister-in-law when I was 18 and on a school trip to NYC in 1973. She was living at the same hotel we stayed at and my sister told me to look her up. She met me in the lobby after my school group had gotten back to the hotel after the theatre. She told me she would be wearing a mink coat. Of course she had blond hair as she was the original "Blondie" from the blondie movies, Penny Singleton. At the time, Penny was the head of the theatre union in NYC and fighting to keep the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. We went across the street to have dinner at Sardi's and when the Matre di greeted her by name he ushered us to her usual table. She ordered us both Welsh Rarebit, which I had never heard of before and while Johnny Carson was on the TV, we had a great conversation. She was so gracious to hang out with me, an 18 year old geeky art/music student from Parma Ohio. It was the one and only time I had Welsh Rarebit and will never forget it. (My sister married Penny's younger brother Barney, who is famous in his own right as the inventor of "cue cards" but that's another story.)

[Saviolo]

8. Quite the story!

Always fascinating how food is so deeply interwoven into the tales we tell about our lives.

[stevil]

6. Thank you, love the stuff.

A great dish when you're low on funds.

[Saviolo]

9. For sure!

Just make sure you have a little salad with it, because it definitely needs some greens!