Welsh Rabbit
or Welsh Rarebit
(Serves 8)

A traditional Welsh dish, still beloved today. Top with 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.

Tips & Glossary: New England

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 our Devonshire Scones. All use pasturized cream; try to avoid "ultra" pasturized.

Ginger:  dried ground ginger is far more potent than freshly grated from the root.   Sweet dessert recipes call for ground powder.  If you wish to use freshly grated ginger, use 6 times the amount of ground called for in the recipe. 

Ploughman's Lunch: sounds romantic, like a peasant dish from medieval times, but it's a marketing gimmick from the 1970's! It's 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.