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Cheese Toast
Sprinkle hot toasted bread with grated cheese, season with a dash of cayenne, and place in oven for a few minutes until cheese is dissolved. Then serve. Or treat as milk toast baked, pouring over a custard instead of plain milk. Cut the crust from the loaf before slicing it for sandwiches; this insures uniformity in size if they are not to be cut in a fancy shape. If butter is to be used, have it soft enough to spread easily, and spread it on the end of the loaf before cutting the slice; the latter can then be cut very thin and will not be broken in spreading.
A one-line supper dish that depends entirely on the cheese melting before the toast dries out. Work hot and fast.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given. Use a hot oven, 425-450F, on the upper rack, or a broiler element for two to three minutes. A slow oven will dry the toast to a cracker before the cheese runs.
- "Until cheese is dissolved"This means melted and glossy, not browned. Grated cheese over dry toast breaks into oil quickly, so pull the pan the moment the surface goes smooth.
- Choice of cheeseThe recipe names no cheese. A dry aged Cheddar or a similar hard grating cheese suits the method, since both grate finely and melt evenly. Pre-shredded cheese carries anti-caking starch and melts sluggishly; grate your own.
- CayenneA dash means well under an eighth of a teaspoon per slice. Cayenne is a common partner to melted cheese in recipes of this period, appearing in Welsh rarebit and cheese straws.
- The milk toast variantMilk toast was toast laid in a shallow dish and soaked with hot seasoned milk. Here you substitute a thin savoury custard, roughly one egg to a cup of milk, poured over the cheese-topped toast and baked in a moderate oven (about 325-350F, a water bath if you want insurance against curdling) until just set. It is effectively a small bread pudding and will take considerably longer than the 'few minutes' of the plain version.
- BreadCut slices about half an inch thick from a firm white sandwich loaf. Very soft modern bread collapses under custard; day-old bread holds up better.
- YieldReckon two slices a person as a light supper or savoury course, one slice alongside soup.