big dirt garden

Like most people during their teenage years, I regularly found myself scavenging the house for something to eat. Invariably, when the pantry and refrigerator were bare, there were always two items I could always count on seeing tucked away, untouched and lonely.

Now I am not a picky eater, but there is one food product that will trigger my gag reflex every time I smell it. I referred to it as a “product”, as I don’t think this qualifies as food. I am referring to Vienna sausages. Specifically, Vienna sausages from a CAN. I’m sure that the lovely people in Vienna enjoy some spectacular locally-made sausages. But once you shove cow parts, shaped like a tube, into a can with some water, all bets are off. I’m convinced there are only two people on earth who enjoy them, my mother and John Thorne. This may have been an elaborate plan by mother to ensure that something, anything, might be left in the pantry after she arrived home from work.

The other item to escape my gaping, teenage maw sat frozen in time, like a fallen wooly mammoth, waiting for freezer climate change to be discovered. Perhaps then, only if it was subject to being thrown out, might it have a chance to show up on the dinner plate. Every time I opened the freezer, I would examine the package, shrug, and toss it back into the cold depths. Often I would study it, staring at the supposedly tantalizing photo of orange sauce and toast, hoping I could figure out what it was. The package read Welsh Rarebit, Stouffer’s style. Now, after many years of devoting most of my free time to learning to cook, I know this is just a fancy version of cheese sauce. I would have totally eaten that. Mom: 2, kid: 0.

So when I served up this latest recipe, a Cheddar Beer Soup, it surfaced the memory of the lonely Welsh Rarebit. Both contain cheddar cheese, worcestershire sauce, mustard and beer. But this is more than just a simple cheese sauce. It is the ultimate comfort food for a cold night. Throw in some crumbled bacon and the requisite toast points, and this cheese sauce sibling is elevated to a meal.

p.s. For reasons that should be obvious, do not use an IPA beer in this recipe.