Southern Rarebit

A bit of a story around this dish; On one of the less than hospitable evenings at the lair, ( Think just about arse deep snow, hurricane force winds, and temperatures cold enough to condense nitrogen from the air), one of our associates arrived. (Something about uptime..)

After he accomplished his mission, we chatted, and consumed several beers from the fridge. At some point the discussion turned from technology, character assassinations, and global assessments to food. and the production there of.

The lair’s larder whilst not depleted, was in a bit of disarray, due to the continuance of poor weather conditions. But on examination we did have the parts of a rather posh grilled ham and cheese, sided with a good chutney, and backed by more of the aforementioned beer.

The use of bacon and bacon drippings add a “Southern” Roguechef twist to this dish

From Wikipedia:

Welsh rabbit or Welsh rarebit is a Welsh dish consisting of a hot cheese-based sauce served over slices of toasted bread. The original 18th-century name of the dish was the jocular “Welsh rabbit”, which was later reinterpreted as “rarebit”, as the dish contains no rabbit. Variants include English rabbit, Scotch rabbit, buck rabbit, golden buck, and blushing bunny.

Though cheese on toast was popular in Wales, there is no good evidence that the dish originated in Welsh cuisine.

Rarebit

Grilled cheese gone posh

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, PubGrub, Sauce, Snack

Cuisine British, Global

Servings 4

Calories 823 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 Cup Gruyere Cheese Grated
• 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese Grated
• 8 slices Bacon Thick cut, sliced to lardons
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp Mustard English (Strong), or dijon
• 3 tbsp Milk Whole milk or better (one might sub an ale here)
• 3 tbsp Flour AP
• 1 tsp Black Pepper Fresh Ground
• 8 slices Sourdough Bread Thick cut

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 325
• Bake or fry bacon until very crisp, reserve the fat, chop the crisped bacon finely and keep warm
• In a saucepan over medium heat, bring 3 tbsp of fat to a sizzle
• Add flour and cook until it just start to take color, ~1-2 minutes, whilst whisking to coat
• Drizzle in the milk 1 tbsp at a time, whilst whisking.
• Whisk in the worcestershire and mustard,
• Thence working in batches, stir in and melt the cheeses
• Stir in the chopped bacon
• Taste, balance flavor and adjust texture with additional milk if necessary
• Toast the bread until it has decent color.
• Spread each slice of toast with a thick coast of the cheese sauce, and re toast until cheese is browned and bubbling.
• Garnish with chives, or serve along with cranberry sauce / chutney

Notes

As a dear aussie friend would say, “Bleedin, jaffles gone all poof.”

This is in fact a rather glorified grilled cheese, but it has so many possibilites, on thick slices of toasted bread, on french bread croutons, etc , etc, etc.

Serve stand alone, or with a fruit chutney, or jam, fresh fruit, or even include several slices of thin cut ham in the final toasting. One can even top with a sunny side up egg and a salad or slaw for a more complete meal

A great breakfast, a wonderful ploughman’s lunch in the pub, or a quiet dinner at home.

Nutrition

Calories: 823kcalCarbohydrates: 81gProtein: 36gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 1711mgPotassium: 448mgFiber: 3gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 575IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 460mgIron: 6mg

Keyword Bacon, Bread, Cheese, Sourdough, Spread

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