Nosh Pit

Rainy Day Comfort Food: Welsh Rarebit

Made at home or ordered up at the pub, rarebit sauce is some cheesy, beer-laced goodness.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 11, 2010 at 11:52AM0 Comments

My Dad’s mom was a single mom. A hardworking single mom. She didn’t have a lot of time or money, but she did have a lot of funny ideas about food. Like, she stopped buying Welch’s grape juice when the company sponsored an Elvis Presley concert tour. I don’t think she was religious, really, but something about those gyrating hips. They grossed her out, or frightened her. I’m not sure which. Maybe both.

She did trust Stouffer’s frozen foods for whatever reason, and so growing up my dad ate a lot of Stouffer’s spinach souffle and Stouffer’s lasagna and Stouffer’s welsh rarebit.

He particularly loved the rarebit, and can you blame him? Pour some of this thick, cheesy, beer-laced goodness sauce over an English muffin topped with a tomato slice and man, have you got something. When my mom had working weekends, not an uncommon occurrence, my dad would make Stouffer’s welsh rarebit for my sister and me. I remember the thick brown skin that would form as it baked in the oven. I remember running my finger along the side of the plastic container and scooping up all the cheesiness left along the edges before I let my dad throw it away.

Then my family lived in France for a year during one of my father’s sabbatical, and there he developed a love of cooking from which we all benefited greatly. Stouffer’s spinach souffles, once a weekly staple in our house, because real spinach souffles: steaming fluffballs laced with thick green strands of pungent spinach.

Soon enough we started making welsh rarebit from scratch too. It’s super easy, perhaps even easier than throwing a Stouffer’s plastic tray in the oven, and definitely a lot tastier.

Mark Bittman has a good welsh rarebit recipe here. He’s right about the Guinness. Sturdy-flavored stouts are the best choice for a rarebit, but I’d skip the mustard seed and throw in a quarter cup of Dijon instead. Cheddar works well, but use something sharp—I like Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar. The only bad rarebit is one where the flavors fall flat, so don’t skimp on the Worcestershire either.

If cooking isn’t your thing, I suggest heading to Kneehigh Stocking Co for a soft pretzel served with a ramekin of dense, cheesy rarebit. Comfort food, indeed. And just the thing for a rainy Seattle day.

Tags: Cooking, Cheese, Comfort Food