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Ring Tum Tiddy-11
2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER I ONION, MINCED I TEASPOON SALT 1/8 TEASPOON PEPPER 2 CUPS COOKED TOMATOES I TABLESPOON SUGAR I POUND STORE CHEESE I EGG, SLIGHTLY BEATEN Heat butter and slowly fry onion until tender and golden. Add seasonings, tomatoes, and sugar. Heat slowly until near boiling point. Add grated cheese; heat, shaking pan several times, until cheese melts. Add egg, stir gently, and take from heat before egg can curdle. Pour over hot buttered toast and eat at once. 1/2 CUP CHOPPED CELERY 1/2 PIMIENTO, MINCED 2 TABLESPOONS CATSUP
A tomato-and-cheese rarebit of the chafing-dish era, thickened with egg and spooned over toast. It comes together in about fifteen minutes and lives or dies on how gently the egg goes in.
- The hinge: the eggOnce the egg goes in the mixture must not simmer again, or it will scramble into threads. The recipe has you stir the egg in and then take the pan from the heat; either way keep it off the boil, let the residual warmth do the work, and serve immediately.
- "Store cheese"Period shorthand for plain unbranded American factory cheddar sold by the wedge from a wheel. A medium or sharp block cheddar is the right stand-in; avoid pre-shredded, whose anti-caking starch makes the sauce grainy.
- A pound is a lotOne pound of cheese to two cups of tomato gives a very thick, intensely cheesy sauce. Grate it coarsely and add in handfuls, letting each melt before the next goes in, so it emulsifies rather than seizing into strings.
- Cooked tomatoesThis means canned tomatoes or stewed fresh ones, not raw. A 14.5-oz can with its juice runs a little under two cups; break the pieces up before the cheese goes in.
- Acid and curdlingTomato acid encourages cheese proteins to clump. The recipe takes the mixture only to near boiling and no further, and holding it there is what helps prevent a broken, oily sauce.
- The extra ingredientsChopped celery, minced pimiento and catsup are listed after the method with no directions for their use; they appear to belong to a variation on the dish.
- Yield and toastThe recipe gives no yield. Use a sturdy bread and butter it while hot; thin sandwich slices collapse under a sauce this heavy.