Welsh Rarebit Crumpets

It was my son Ethan's 1st birthday today and after the Aquarium visit we held a high tea for the adults and babies to celebrate further. Of course there was all the usual suspects - cake, jelly, ice-cream.....but I also wanted to do something a little more adult. 

It is fair to say that I am a bit of a rarebit addict and slather it on everything from toast to omelettes, smoked haddock and field mushrooms. I've not seen it on crumpets before, however a quick internet search to check my originality revealed that only 2876 people had thought of it before me - ha! 

So here it is folks, possibly the most unoriginal twist with crumpets in human history:

Ingredients:

6 crumpets

200g very mature cheddar cheese, grated

25g butter

1 tbsp plain flour

1 heaped tsp dijon

1 heaped tsp grain mustard

100ml real ale

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg yolk

Salt and pepper

Method:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the flour to make a roux. Add the mustards and beat in using a whisk.  Add the beer and quickly whisk in until all the floury lumps have been incorporated and bring to the simmer beating all the time. The sauce should thicken when boiling, reduce the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes to cook out the flour. Take off the heat and add the cheese, egg yolk and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix well and allow the residual heat of the sauce to melt the cheese. Season well and set aside. 

Toast your crumpets on both sides under a hot grill, top generously with rarebit then toast  again until the topping is golden and bubbling. Allow to cool a little before devouring or risk losing the roof lining of your mouth......!