A rare bit

Now for the main course: a faked rarebit. I've got 4oz of cheese in the fridge, of which I'm prepared up give up 2oz. Any rarebit is going to be a bit cheese-light and thus need to be lifted in some way. This is my attempt.

I started by taking some oats and toasting them in a low oven for an hour to bring out the flavour I'd much need. Then I melted a knob of butter in a heavy-bottomed pan and added the finely sliced (other) small onion and some garlic powder and let it sit on a gentle heat for a while. When the onion was translucent, I added the toasted oats to soak up the remaining fat. Then I added a helping of flour to start my roux.

This was a roux with a difference: instead of milk, I used beer. Specifically Riggwelter, one of the finest cooking-beers I've come across. If you're fool enough to try this recipe, you can substitute Guinness, but Riggwelter is ideal. I built up the roux as normal until I got the thick paste I needed, then grated in the 2oz of cheese and added 3tsp of wholegrain mustard. When this had settled, I added 1/2 gill (an eighth of a pint, 2.5 fluid oz or 70ml) of Household milk and a ladle of my stock and let it reduce until it was thick but not quite thick enough.

Taking the rarebit off the heat, I then boiled a peeled and diced potato; when done, I drained it off in a sieve then pushed it through the sieve and added the pulped potato to the rarebit. That thickened it and added the much-needed bulk for such a thin meal. It tastes good too!

Now to slice some bread and toast it and the rarebit under the grill, then put it in CJBS for a final verdict.