However you know it, whether by Welsh Rarebit or the older Welsh Rabbit, the wonderful taste of cheese, ale and toast remains a quintessential part of the dish. There isn’t any rabbit in the dish and rumor has it that it was called rabbit as the cheese was a substitute for the wild rabbit on estates that the non-aristocracy were not allowed to trap and eat. While there isn’t any proof of this origin, it’s a colorful story and the delectable flavor of the dish remains.

Since March 1st is St. David’s Day, or Dewi Sant, as he is known in Wales, it seems a great day to honor the patron saint of Wales with this delicious Welsh brunch dish.

I was first introduced to Welsh Rarebit by my great aunt, who lived in Redondo Beach, but she was originally from Virginia and I believe she might have some Welsh influences from there. I fell in love with the taste of the cheesy toast and Aunt Emily always made it with either Canadian bacon or American bacon on the toast. Heaven! You can buy frozen Welsh Rarebit sauce, but it isn’t on the low carb list and besides, it’s not that difficult to make.

The preferred cheeses are Lancashire or Irish Cheddar, but it can be made with any cheese. I prefer a sharp cheese so I have combined Irish White Cheese with Tillamook Sharp Cheddar for my sauce. I also used Guinness stout, but any good beer or lager will work or you can just add a little more cream to it if you prefer. I use CarbQuick for my flour but you can use other low carb flours or Thick-It-Up or you can use 2 eggs yolks to thicken the sauce. I haven’t tried coconut flour as a thickener, but given it’s ability to absorb liquid, it might work.

Welsh Rarebit Egg Toast

4 eggs
4 slices low carb bread or Oopsie Rolls, toasted
4 slices Canadian bacon (or 8 if they are small slices)
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried celeriac
3 tbsp stout or Guinness
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, or more to taste
6oz Lancashire cheese or White Irish Cheddar cheese, grated (Or cheddar cheese)
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
2 tablespoon CarbQuick or about 2 teaspoons Thick-It-Up or 2 egg yolks

Pre-heat the grill to medium-high and toast the bread, turning it over to get both sides. You can also toast it in a toaster. I put a little butter on the bread if using the grill. If using the toaster, butter it after it comes out.

In a sauce pan, melt the butter, mix the mustard, flour (or Thick-It-Up), white pepper, and lager together to form a paste. Add the cream and stir until it is mixed together, then add shredded cheese, celeriac and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until the cheese is melted and the mixture is on the verge of boiling, but not quite. Remove from the heat and set on the stove top to keep warm.

Put the Canadian bacon under the grill for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, poach or fry the eggs, whichever you prefer. Put the toast on an ovenproof plate, such as stoneware or Corelle or use a pie tin for each egg. Layer the Canadian bacon on top, then put the egg on top of that.

If you are thickening your sauce with egg yolks, stir them into the warm cheese sauce now and beat until the sauce is smooth.

Spoon about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the cheese sauce over the egg and toast. Put the plate under the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese is lightly toasted.

If you really want a lot of cheese, you can add more of the sauce, but the calories are pretty high on this even though the carb count is low.

Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Instead of bread for the base, you could use a large, 1/2 inch slice of tomato. Or you shred daikon radish or turnips and make hash browns and build the rarebit over 1/3 cup hash browns.

For a nice spring variation, add two parboiled asparagus spears to each plate on top of the egg, then pour the sauce over that as well.

The sauce is also excellent just with toast, which is the basic form for it, and over vegetables as a cheese sauce.

The carb count doesn’t include the slice of toast, since that can vary quite a bit, depending on what you’re using. It does include everything else in the recipe.

Nutrition Info: (without toast) 1 serving
Calories: 398.4  Fat: 32.3 g  Net Carbs: 1.7 g  Protein: 23.7 g

Originally POSTED BY RENE AVERETT AT 2/28/2014 3:42 PM