British Entree

Welsh Rabbit
(Serves 8)

A traditional Welsh dish of toast topped with a creamy cheddar cheese sauce. Add a slice of ham, tomato or onion, and serve with sharp, pungent little gherkins.

2 T butter
1 1/2 lb. sharp cheddar (grated)
12 oz. bottle of beer
Tabasco sauce (to taste)
1 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs (beaten)
8 slices toast

In a double boiler, melt butter, add cheese and beer, and stir till all is melted. Mix in next 4 ingredients (not eggs). Continue stirring till you get thick, creamy mixture.

Remove from heat, cool very slightly before adding eggs. Add eggs and stir to incorporate (make sure eggs don't cook and curdle). Return pot to double boiler and stir a few more minutes. At this point, you can use a chaffing dish for serving, or just serve from the double boiler. Ladle rabbit over toast.

| See more British recipes |

Tips & Glossary

Clotted Cream: a thick yellowish cream made from unpasturized cow's milk. You can make your own, although it's hard to find unpasturized cream in the U.S. Still, you'll find 3 recipes under Scones. All use pasturized cream; try to avoid "ultra" pasturized.

Ploughman's Lunch: sounds romantic, like a peasant dish from medieval times, but it's a marketing gimmick from the 1970's! It's become a popular lunch in Britain now: a piece of bread, hunk of cheese, with onion, gherkin, and an apple. Our Ploughman's Soup is a take-off on that name.

Roux: (“roo”), paste-like mixture of melted butter and flour, into which liquid is gradually added. Used as a thickening agent for soups and all classic French sauces. Basic Roux: melt 1 part butter and add 1 part flour. Stir continuously till it becomes paste-like. Slowly add whatever liquid your recipe calls for.

Tea Time: Afternoon tea became fashionable in the mid-1600's. A light snack with sandwiches and sweets, it's served from 3-5 in a sitting room. High tea, is a light meal served from 5-6 in a dining room. ("High" because the dining table is higher than the low ones in a sitting room.)

Yorkshire Pudding: from the northern county of Yorkshire, originating in the early 1700s when flour was more readily available. A pancake like batter is spooned into the drippings of a roast as it cooks. Eaten alongside the roast or as a separate course.