Welsh Rabbit is a funny name for multiple reasons. It's just silly sounding, first of all, especially since it doesn't seem to have anything to do with what it is (which is cheese sauce on toast), and especially when someone says "rarebit" instead of rabbit. But once you know where the name came from, it's actually even funnier. It's basically a big dis of the Welsh. Since it is a meatless dish, made to use up leftovers or make due when the day's hunt went badly, it came to be known as "Welsh Rabbit" as an insult, as in, "those men in Wales are terrible hunters." Those crazy Englishmen. They sure know how to throw the insults! (Like in Family Guy: "Oh Reginald.... I disagree!")
I love cheese sauce in all forms. I love Welsh Rabbit's Scandinavian, French-adopted cousin, fondue. Like fondue, Welsh Rabbit is traditionally a way to get dinner on the table when all you have is stale bread, cheese, and some sort of wine or ale. However, for whatever reason, I've just never gotten around to actually serving Welsh Rabbit. Ever. I am not sure why this would be. I've made a million versions of cheese sauce to have on and in numerous types of things, just never toast. Well, I finally got around to serving it for dinner yesterday. It was delicious and easy and I have absolutely no freaking clue why such a meal wasn't already in my cheese-loving repertoire. Shame on me. I'll make up for it by serving it regularly from now on.
I made my Welsh Rabbit with white wine, and I used cheddar cheese, swiss, and a little monterey jack. The toast I simply brushed wtih a little olive oil and sprinkled with parmesan before baking. I served half the toasts with chopped tomatoes and half without to see how that went, and I actually did like the tomatoes very much. But, come on, there's not much you can do to white wine-cheese sauce over bread to make it bad.
I also boiled some cauliflower to have on the side, so I basically just piled the toast, tomatoes, and cauliflower on the plate and just doused everything in the cheese sauce. Yum, right? Of course.
Happy eating!
Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Hummus & Cheese Crostini
Here's an idea for a snack or appetizer that is super delicious and super easy. And, actually, since I first discovered this combo, I've eaten these as the main portion of a dinner, too, not just as a snack. It was a happy accident that I happened to find how well these ingredients are together.
I went into the kitchen the other day to find a snack, but was greeted with a mostly-empty pantry and fridge. We just had a few miscellaneous things. We had a couple of onion bagels, a little bit of hummus, and some gruyere cheese leftover from when I made French onion soup a few days before. I was sortof in the mood for melted cheese (I'm almost always in the mood for melted cheese), so I thought I could make some sort of melted-cheese bagel something-or-other.
The first thing I did was slice an onion bagel into thin pieces. I drizzled the bagel slices with a little olive oil and baked them in the oven to make little toasts. Then I spread them with a little hummus - it happened to be roasted garlic flavor - and topped each one with a slice of gruyere cheese. I also sprinkled each with a little salt, pepper, and paprika. Then I put them back in the oven to get the cheese melted and bubbly.
I thought I was just making do with what I had, but it turns out it was a super yummy treat! These little bagel crostinis were so good, I could hardly wait to make them again to show Dan (he was at work at the time). So I made them again for the both of us a few days later, although this time I used everything bagels instead of onion. He loved them, too. Now they are part of my repertoire. I am sure they'd be good with other kinds of toasted bread besides bagels, but for whatever reason, bagels do happen to taste great with the hummus and gruyere. Turns out leftover night is sometimes not so bad!
Happy eating!
I went into the kitchen the other day to find a snack, but was greeted with a mostly-empty pantry and fridge. We just had a few miscellaneous things. We had a couple of onion bagels, a little bit of hummus, and some gruyere cheese leftover from when I made French onion soup a few days before. I was sortof in the mood for melted cheese (I'm almost always in the mood for melted cheese), so I thought I could make some sort of melted-cheese bagel something-or-other.
The first thing I did was slice an onion bagel into thin pieces. I drizzled the bagel slices with a little olive oil and baked them in the oven to make little toasts. Then I spread them with a little hummus - it happened to be roasted garlic flavor - and topped each one with a slice of gruyere cheese. I also sprinkled each with a little salt, pepper, and paprika. Then I put them back in the oven to get the cheese melted and bubbly.
I thought I was just making do with what I had, but it turns out it was a super yummy treat! These little bagel crostinis were so good, I could hardly wait to make them again to show Dan (he was at work at the time). So I made them again for the both of us a few days later, although this time I used everything bagels instead of onion. He loved them, too. Now they are part of my repertoire. I am sure they'd be good with other kinds of toasted bread besides bagels, but for whatever reason, bagels do happen to taste great with the hummus and gruyere. Turns out leftover night is sometimes not so bad!
Happy eating!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
I Want A Decent Bagel
When I lived in Michigan, I ate bagels and cream cheese a lot. A lot a lot. We always had them in the house and my sisters and I partook of them constantly. There were also loads of bagel shops everywhere and finding good ones was not hard. During the years I lived in Kalamazoo, I grew dependent on a particular chain of bagel shops that were particularly good, and one in particular, where I went often enough that they knew me by name. I love me some bagels.
Then I moved to Colorado. And, suddenly, I was bagel-less. There are few true bagel shops out here. I can get them from Panera - and let's face it, people, those aren't bagels, they are yummy bread in a circle shape. Often tasty, but not bagels. (side note - what is with Panera canceling the sundried tomao cream cheese?!?) And at the other bagel places, the bagels were always underwhelming. My husband was patient as I went from place to place looking for a bagel that was adequate. After I first moved out here, I had to look for all kinds of things - a pizza place, an Indian restaurant with a decent malai kofta, a tapas restaurant - and one by one I settled into new versions of those things, but alas, still no good bagels!
There also aren't as many bagel places out here. For the most part there are just a few national chains and then a couple local places. Even one chain that I occassionally went to in Michigan served much worse bagels out here. What gives, Colorado? Is it because Michigan is closer to the East Coast and you haven't gotten the true bagel influence yet? Is it because everyone here eats a huge slab of steak and juevos rancheros for every breakfast instead?
One day I came up with the theory that it's the elevation. Maybe being the mile-high city makes it impossible for the bagel dough to act and react correctly. I have absolutely no idea if this is true, but it's the best I have so far. It can't be that a whole city doesn't know what a true bagel is, could it??
I'll keep looking for a better Denver bagel. In the meantime, Dan and I have found a bagel shop that is absolutely nowhere near our house that is good enough for now. If anybody knows of a really good bagel place in this state, I would love to hear about it. Also, if you have any scientific explanation as to why the bagels are generally sucky here, I would love to hear about that, too.
Happy bagel eating!
Then I moved to Colorado. And, suddenly, I was bagel-less. There are few true bagel shops out here. I can get them from Panera - and let's face it, people, those aren't bagels, they are yummy bread in a circle shape. Often tasty, but not bagels. (side note - what is with Panera canceling the sundried tomao cream cheese?!?) And at the other bagel places, the bagels were always underwhelming. My husband was patient as I went from place to place looking for a bagel that was adequate. After I first moved out here, I had to look for all kinds of things - a pizza place, an Indian restaurant with a decent malai kofta, a tapas restaurant - and one by one I settled into new versions of those things, but alas, still no good bagels!
There also aren't as many bagel places out here. For the most part there are just a few national chains and then a couple local places. Even one chain that I occassionally went to in Michigan served much worse bagels out here. What gives, Colorado? Is it because Michigan is closer to the East Coast and you haven't gotten the true bagel influence yet? Is it because everyone here eats a huge slab of steak and juevos rancheros for every breakfast instead?
One day I came up with the theory that it's the elevation. Maybe being the mile-high city makes it impossible for the bagel dough to act and react correctly. I have absolutely no idea if this is true, but it's the best I have so far. It can't be that a whole city doesn't know what a true bagel is, could it??
I'll keep looking for a better Denver bagel. In the meantime, Dan and I have found a bagel shop that is absolutely nowhere near our house that is good enough for now. If anybody knows of a really good bagel place in this state, I would love to hear about it. Also, if you have any scientific explanation as to why the bagels are generally sucky here, I would love to hear about that, too.
Happy bagel eating!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Fun Flatbread Trick
I discovered something new the other day and gave it a try. It worked great, so I just have to share.
We all have had those pre-made biscuits in the can. You know, the ones where you peel the paper until the can POPS open. Well, I saw somebody on tv the other day use them to make flatbread. I figured I'd try it out.
On the show, they rolled out the biscuits with a mixture of flour and cornmeal, but I was going for something a little different than them, so I used a combo of flour and sesame seeds. I tried it with just flour, though, too, and that worked just as well. You just press them down a little and roll them out the way you would a pie dough. I used two biscuits pressed together to make the size flatbread I wanted, which turned out to be about a 6-inch circle by using two biscuits. If you roll the dough out paper thin, you get a crispier, thin flatbread. If you don't roll the dough out to within an inch of its life, maybe a quarter inch, it will instead puff up just a little, and be a little softer.
After rolling out the biscuit dough, you just cook them in a nonstick pan with a tiny amount of oil, or a couple sprays of cooking spray. You have to add more oil or spray when you flip the flatbread.
Once the flatbread is cooked, you can do all kinds of things with it. I caramelized some slivered onions with some butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and a little sugar to push the caramelization. Then I spread those on the flatbread and topped them with thin slices of fresh mozzarella, and a little basil. I baked them in the oven for about 10 minutes, and YUM, it was great! I am sure I could do all sorts of other things with it, too. I have all kinds of ideas.
The next time you have one of those silly little cans of biscuit dough, give this a try, you won't be sorry.
Happy Holiday eating!
We all have had those pre-made biscuits in the can. You know, the ones where you peel the paper until the can POPS open. Well, I saw somebody on tv the other day use them to make flatbread. I figured I'd try it out.
On the show, they rolled out the biscuits with a mixture of flour and cornmeal, but I was going for something a little different than them, so I used a combo of flour and sesame seeds. I tried it with just flour, though, too, and that worked just as well. You just press them down a little and roll them out the way you would a pie dough. I used two biscuits pressed together to make the size flatbread I wanted, which turned out to be about a 6-inch circle by using two biscuits. If you roll the dough out paper thin, you get a crispier, thin flatbread. If you don't roll the dough out to within an inch of its life, maybe a quarter inch, it will instead puff up just a little, and be a little softer.
After rolling out the biscuit dough, you just cook them in a nonstick pan with a tiny amount of oil, or a couple sprays of cooking spray. You have to add more oil or spray when you flip the flatbread.
Once the flatbread is cooked, you can do all kinds of things with it. I caramelized some slivered onions with some butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and a little sugar to push the caramelization. Then I spread those on the flatbread and topped them with thin slices of fresh mozzarella, and a little basil. I baked them in the oven for about 10 minutes, and YUM, it was great! I am sure I could do all sorts of other things with it, too. I have all kinds of ideas.
The next time you have one of those silly little cans of biscuit dough, give this a try, you won't be sorry.
Happy Holiday eating!
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