Welsh Rabbit and Ants' Egg Omelets...

I'm off work 'til Monday morning, so I actually made us breakfast this morning. Gina's TMJ has been bothering her so soft food was called for. I decided on Welsh Rabbit, which she'd never had before. Her mom always told her she'd hate it. WRONG. She loved it, and wants me to make it again when our daughter gets here.

WELSH RABBIT

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 scallions, minced (green parts only)

1 cup dark beer or ale (I used Henry Weinhard's Special Dark)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste

1 pound extra sharp Cheddar cheese, grated (I used Tillamook Extra Sharp) tossed with 4-5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

6 or 8 slices of good-quality bread (I used English muffin bread), lightly toasted

Preheat the broiler. Place the toast either on individual, oven-proof plates (two slices per serving) or on a very large cookie sheet.

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the scallions and saute until soft, a minute or two. Add the beer, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and pepper, stir well and heat. When it is just beginning to bubble, start adding the grated, floured cheese, a handful at a time. Stir until each handful melts completely into the mixture. When all the cheese has been added and the sauce is smooth, spoon over the toast and place them under the broiler. Heat under the broiler until the cheese sauce begins to brown and bubble, a minute or two. Serve (3 or 4 servings).

Notes: You can use any decent beer or ale, really. The cheese should be fairly sharp...a sharp, extra sharp or New York cheddar, or any of the good cheeses from the British Isles. A good bread of character is a must - English muffin bread, a country or peasant bread, something of that sort. Thickly sliced, if at all possible. Its not traditional, but you can put some bacon, ham or Canadian bacon on the bread before you pour the cheese sauce over (we added some Black Forest ham this morning).

As for the ants' egg omelets, we were watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations while I was cooking breakfast. He was in Laos this episode. Its a very poor nation, landlocked, dependent on the Mekong River and the surrounding forests for much of their food. Its a very interesting cuisine. Amongst the many...um, different...foods he got to try was an ants' egg omelet, which he said was very good, indeed. He didn't like the fried whole sparrows, however.

It was a beautiful and friendly place. It was difficult for him (and for us) watching the damage America did to that country in the war. People are still picking up (well over 30 years later!) some 400,000 pieces of unexploded ordinance each year...a whopping 1/2 of one percent of the total. Many people - farmers, children, innocents all - are still being injured, maimed and killed every year by the leftovers of the Vietnam War. A sad testament to how we all-to-often "help", bringing freedom and democracy to the masses.