Swiss Rarebit

I have discovered a new cookbook love, The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest. I now see that my life was incomplete without it! I took it out of the library, after reading Ricki talk about it and I was hooked and had to buy it. Vegetable-flecked bread? Curried sweet potato pie with coconut crust? Savory apple casserole? I could go on and on. I think I'm seriously going to make every single recipe in this cookbook. I own a lot of vegetarian cookbooks, and it is so incredibly rare that you come across a gem like this. Every recipe sounds so good, uses ingredients that aren't hard to get, and there's so much variety. This cookbook was originally published in 1982 and I guess I'm surprised at how innovative and interesting the recipes are. I think I assume that after all these years people would've come up with more interesting stuff, but that's definitely not true. This book is where it's at. I just can't believe I've gone this long without having it! I'm sure many of you already have it but for me it's an exciting new discovery (as I'm sure you can tell). I've already made 4 or 5 things from it and this is just the beginning. I don't think it can replace Rebar as my favourite vegetarian (and all around cookbook) but it might come out as a tie.

Today I'm sharing with you this delicious Swiss rarebit, which wasn't the first thing I made from this cookbook but seemed like a good thing to share right now while we're all looking for warm comforting meals. I've always wanted to make rarebit and now I want to try out other versions like with mustard and beer. This rarebit is made with Swiss cheese, mushrooms, white wine, tarragon and green onions - a wonderful combination. It makes enough to top 4 thick slices of pumpernickel (which I made using a recipe from this cookbook and it was awesome - to be posted soon), and we made the mistake of each eating two for our meal. It was super tasty and basically like a cheese/wine/mushroom fondue on toast (who can say no to that), but if you eat two slices like we did, you will feel really gross afterwards. Next time I'll just eat one piece with a big salad.

Wow I'm feeling quite verbose tonight. You'd think I'd be inspired to finish my essay right now when I'm in a mood like this, but no.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Feta and Ricotta Cheese Pie
Cauliflower Gratin
Cheddar Ale Dip

Swiss Rarebit
Adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

The only thing I changed was to use half the amount of oil (and using oil not butter).

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
5 medium sized green onions, minced
up to 1 cup grated Swiss cheese (1/4 lb)
thick slices of toasted pumpernickel
freshly grated nutmeg & ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or medium-large saucepan. Add the mushrooms and salt, and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.

2. Gradually sprinkle in the flour, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for about 1 minute, then stir in the wine and tarragon. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

3. Shortly before serving, stir in the green onions and cheese. Keep cooking over low heat, stirring, until the cheese is completely melted.

4. To serve, place 4 generous slices of pumpernickel toast on 4 separate plates or in shallow soup bowls. Spoon the rarebit over the top, grind on some fresh nutmeg and black pepper, and it's ready to eat.