Recipe #2: Weirder Welsh rarebit with smoked salmon surprise

When I was just a little kid, my father used to make Welsh rarebit as a snack, which was, needless to say, quite atypical for Malaysian Chinese families. Since then, I have learned that *many* recipes for Welsh rarebits exist. Basically though, it is baked/grilled cheese on bread, from which many permutations of its preparation are derived.

I decided to take this further, first by making things simple: cheddar cheese and English muffins. Then I thought: what if there was a little surprise underneath that golden brown baked cheese?

Thus this weirder recipe was born...

Ingredients

• Sliced cheddar cheese (tasty or vintage)
• Smoked salmon (Tasmanian is ideal)
• English muffins
• Creamy butter
• Red onions
• Cottage cheese (optional)
• Fresh mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Sea salt

Preparation
Warm oven and line baking tray with aluminium foil.
Slice English muffins into horizontal halves and place into warm fry-pan with melted butter. Allow muffins to soak the butter and brown slightly. Then turn them over, place a few layers of thinly sliced smoked salmon. Add a dollop of cottage cheese and finely chopped red onions. Finally, place two slices of cheddar cheese, the top one arranged at a 45-degree angle over the one beneath so that the edges of the cheese stick out over the round muffins.
When oven is hot, place cheese-topped muffins on tray and bake for around 15 minutes (less if fan-forced) until cheese turns golden brown.

Vegetables
Add more butter into fry-pan and stir-fry remaining chopped red onions.
Then add mushrooms, arranged in a single layer, allowing them to simmer in the butter until they brown. Sprinkle some sea salt to taste.
Finally, place the asparagus in the simmering butter and lightly cook them.

To Serve
Gently remove muffins from tray (this could be tricky as the cheese would have just melted in total submission, flowing onto the foil, before turning golden brown and crisp around the edges) then place them over vegetables.

Complement with an aromatic white, such as a Condrieu or, if you prefer, Gerwuztraminer.

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Next> Recipe #3: Baked fresh Tasmanian salmon on pasta topped with onions, mushrooms & a delicate home-made sauce