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Mexican Rabbit
1/2 tablespoon butter 1/2 green pepper 2 cups grated cheese 1 egg 1 cup canned corn 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup canned tomatoes 1/2 cup bread-crums 6 slices buttered toast Melt the butter in the top of the double boiler, add the chopped pepper and cook until slightly softened, but not browned. Set over hot water, add the cheese and stir constantly until the cheese is melted. Mix beaten egg, salt and corn and stir into the cheese mixture; add the chopped tomatoes and crums. Heat the mixture and serve on toasted bread.
A stovetop cheese dish in the Welsh rabbit family, stretched with corn and tomato. Everything depends on keeping the cheese below a simmer.
- The hinge: gentle heatCheese held above about 160F breaks, going stringy with a slick of oil. Keep the water in the lower pan hot but not boiling, and stop stirring the moment the cheese is smooth and pourable.
- "Crums"Simply bread-crumbs, in the period's simplified spelling. Use soft fresh crumbs rather than dry packaged ones; they thicken the mixture without making it gritty.
- The cheeseTwo cups grated is roughly 8 oz. The recipe names no variety; a sharp or medium cheddar suits the dish, while young, high-moisture cheeses melt but taste of very little here.
- Melting the butterThe butter and pepper appear to be softened in the upper pan set directly over low heat, since the recipe only tells you to set it over hot water afterwards, before the cheese goes in.
- Canned corn and tomatoesDrain both well. Period canned corn was packed in a starchy liquor and canned tomatoes in a great deal of juice; excess liquid will keep the mixture from ever coating the toast.
- The eggOne beaten egg goes in cold, mixed with the corn, which tempers it. Add it in a thin stream and keep stirring or it will set in threads.
- Yield and servingSix slices of toast, so three to six servings depending on whether it is a lunch dish or a supper savoury. Serve immediately; it stiffens badly as it cools and does not reheat well.