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Welsh Rabbit
1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon flour 1 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon salt Few grains pepper 1/4 teaspoon mustard 1/4 to 1 pound of cheese (according to richness desired) shaved or cut fine 6 slices buttered toast Make a white sauce, in the top of a double boiler, of the first six ingredients, mixing the mustard with the other dry ingredients. Set the top part of the boiler over hot but not boiling water. Add the cheese, cook and stir until it is melted. Serve on hot toasted bread or on saltines. One-half cup chopped olives may be added. This dish may be varied by adding one or two slightly beaten eggs just after the cheese has melted and continuing the cooking until the egg has thickened the mixture.
A milk-and-flour based rabbit rather than the beer version, which makes it more forgiving: the starch in the white sauce helps hold the melted cheese in suspension. The rest is temperature control.
- Keep the water below a simmerThe instruction to set the pan over "hot but not boiling water" is the whole recipe. Cheese proteins tighten and squeeze out fat above roughly 160F, giving you stringy curds in an oily puddle. Pull the top pan off the heat while the last shreds are still melting.
- How much cheeseThe range of a quarter pound to a full pound against one cup of milk is enormous. Six ounces gives a pourable sauce; a full pound gives something closer to a thick fondue that will set as it cools. Start at 8 oz for a familiar result.
- Which cheeseUse a sharp aged cheddar, grated on the coarse side of a box grater. Pre-shredded cheese is dusted with anti-caking starch and melts grainy. Very young or very dry hard cheeses both misbehave here.
- The mustardA quarter teaspoon of dry mustard powder, mixed into the flour and salt as directed. It is not there for heat but to sharpen the cheese; do not substitute prepared mustard, which adds liquid and vinegar.
- Double boiler substituteA stainless bowl set over a saucepan of hot water works identically. Do not let the bowl touch the water, and keep the pan on the lowest heat once the water is hot.
- The egg variationIf you add the beaten eggs, do it off the direct heat and stir constantly; the mixture should thicken to the consistency of soft custard in a few minutes. Any sign of grainy specks means it has gone too far.
- Yield and timingSix slices of toast, so three to six servings depending on whether it is a supper dish or a savoury. Make it immediately before serving — reheated rabbit tends to separate.