Welsh Rarebit

Sak and I have have a rule, that whenever we get a new cooking magazine, we have to make at least one recipe from it to make it "worth it".  This month Sak choose rarebit because a) it has and interesting name and b) it's beer-cheese-bread, and looked a lot like the cheese bread the Borrowers eat in the Arrietty movie, hence a craving.

If you're following along at home, this recipe from Alton Brown is pretty much identical.

First, whip up some aromatics for a sauteed tomato topping.  Onions, garlic and chili flakes (I used chili powder since I didn't have flakes).

Throw in some halved grape tomatoes and let it all simmer while you cook everything else.

For the rarebit sauce, melt butter and add some flour.

Then add heavy cream, beer, mustard, worcestshire sauce (I used katsu sauce since I didn't have worcestshire, how Asian is that? :P), and any spices/hot sauce you'd like.  I used a bit of cayenne pepper and black pepper.  One note about the beer - it said to use a dark beer, and all I had was this Kona beer.  Bad choice. Very bad choice. It's Kona coffee beer, and has a coffee aftertaste.  It made the whole thing come out a little strange, but considering we still ate everything - it didn't ruin the dish.  But still, don't use coffee beer.

Sauce should now look like this:

Then add a block of extra-sharp cheddar cheese. Mine was aged 18 months, and about 7.5 ounces.  Sauce should get a little more orange:

Now cut up some crusty bread into thick slices! I used whatever "sour batard" is at TJs.

Ladle on the cheese mixture...

And broil until it looks delicious!

Top with your sauteed tomatoes, and serve with some sausage if you'd like!

It was really, really good! But definitely not everyday food. It's super heavy!

Yum!

Do you make the recipes in your magazines, or do you just look at the pictures? Haha!