The Food Gatherer's Note: You don't get much better than a toast, cheese and ham combo and this is a real treat. A variaton of a Welsh Rarebit, but using Reypenaer aged gouda. Of course you can experiment with different cheeses, but choose a good pale ale so you can have the pleasure of drinking it alongside! Reypenaer, ale and sourdough available from Holtwhites EL
Enjoy your rarebit with a glass of pale ale, like Orbit Beer London's IVO
REYPANAER RAREBIT
Ingredients:
2 large slices Sourdough
25g butter
15g plain flour
75ml Pale Ale
100g aged Reypanaer cheese, grated
50g Chedddar cheese
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Splash of Worcester sauce
Pinch of salt
1 medium egg yolk
2 slices good smoked ham
Black pepper
To Prepare:
Turn on the grill, toast the sourdough on both sides and put it on a tray. While toasting the bread, melt the butter in a small pan over a medium heat, then tip in the flour. Stir constantly until well blended with the butter. Cook for 30 seconds or so, taking great care not to brown the butter or the flour.
Slowly add the ale, followed by the cheese and stir in until totally melted. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the mustard, Worcester sauce and salt, then stir in the egg yolk vigorously until well combined. Lay a slice of ham on each piece of toast, divide the rarebit mix and spread it over the ham, taking it to the very edges.
Grill until hot, bubbling and browned on top, give it a good grind of black pepper and serve with a glass of ale!