Welsh rarebit, perfect at any time of the day!

Well, the Christmas decorations came down today, 2014 here we come! We’ve had a fantastic festive holiday and New Year and seen pretty much all of our brilliant friends and family too. We’ve had some delicious food and drinks and I’ll be sharing a few of those highlights over the coming weeks.

This morning I was rummaging about in the fridge to see what I could make for lunch out of the mountains of leftover cheese I still had.   One of my favourite trends of last year was the rise of the all-day breakfast and the popularity of Breakfast Club and Breads Etc. in London so, in a lightbulb moment, I decided to resurrect a neglected favourite that could well be gracing their menus this year: Welsh rarebit.   If you’re not familiar with this fantastic grilled cheese mixture on toast, you’re in for a proper treat. This recipe is enough for six decent sized pieces of toast topping. Try it by itself or with a smear of pickle on the toasted bread, topped with a couple of slices of tomato or a side of grilled bacon for a delicious treat for breakfast, lunch or supper. It will keep for a couple of days in the fridge so make this batch and save some for the next day if you can’t eat it all in one sitting although that is pretty unlikely.

To make it you will need…

• 2 egg yolks (save the whites for omelettes or meringues).
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard.
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.
• 225 gms of grated cheese. I used a mixture of mature Cheddar and Red Leicester because that’s what I had lots of. Plain Cheddar is also perfect.
• 50ml of double cream.
• 2 tablespoons of dark beer (drink the rest or make carbonnade of beef with it – exactly what I am doing tonight).
• 6 large slices of toast from a good quality cut loaf. Wholemeal, sourdough or crusty white would be perfect.
• Optional: pickle for smearing under the toast before topping with rarebit. Tomato for topping the rarebit. Bacon for serving on the side.

To make…

• Preheat your grill to high, at least 200C.
• Bring the cream to the boil in a non-stick saucepan.
• Whisk in the beer once the cream has thickened.
• Take it off the heat and whisk in the grated cheese, egg yolks, mustard and Worcester sauce.
• Once melted and thoroughly incorporated, leave the rarebit mixture to one side for at least an hour for the flavours to mingle. You can make a batch the day before so it’s ready to use the next day.
• Toast the bread on both sides and then spread generously with the rarebit mixture. Add the chutney base or tomato topping if using at this stage.
• Put the toast under the grill and leave it until it is bubbling and golden.
• Serve hot on its own or with a side of fried or grilled bacon.

Nom, nom, nom!

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