Welsh rarebit
Ale and Cheese Sauce Grilled on Toast
Welsh rarebit is a thick sauce of ale, mustard and mature cheese spooned onto toast and grilled until golden and bubbling.
The chef makes a roux of butter and flour, whisks in warm ale, then Worcestershire sauce, mustard and cayenne, melts in two cheeses, takes it off the heat, adds cream and an egg yolk and grills it on toast for about 2 minutes.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 250 ml ale
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 50 g plain flour
- A splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 130 g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
- 130 g Red Leicester, coarsely grated
- A splash of single cream
- 1 medium free-range egg yolk, beaten
To serve
- 4 thick slices of bread
Method
- Warm the ale Gently warm the ale in a pan. In another pan melt the butter over medium heat, add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring, to make a roux.
- Make the sauce Gradually whisk the ale into the roux until smooth. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and cayenne, then the cheeses until fully melted.
- Enrich Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cream and egg yolk.
- Grill Heat the grill to high. Toast the bread on both sides, spoon the cheese sauce over and grill for about 2 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Food safety
The sauce contains egg yolk: grill until bubbling and piping hot. The grill and pan are very hot: use oven gloves and keep the toast under watch.
Take the sauce off the heat before adding the yolk.