Make Cheese Toast

Cheese. Toast. Two fantastic ingredients, falling in love with each other. Follow these recipes to avoid the pitfalls of rubbery cheese or charred bread and let their love soar to new heights. If you're feeling ambitious, introduce the couple to some friends and melt yourself a pot of Welsh rarebit.

Ingredients

Basic Cheese Toast

• Bread
• Butter
• Good melting cheese (e.g. cheddar, gruyere, red leicester, grated parmesan)

Welsh Rarebit

• 4 slices bread
• 200g (7 oz / ~1¾ cups) aged cheddar, shredded
• 30g (2 tbsp) butter
• 15g (2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
• 120 mL (½ cup) beer (porter or stout)
• 80 mL (¾ cup) whole milk or heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 5 mL (1 tsp) dry mustard
• 5 mL (1 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
• pinch of cayenne
• pinch of paprika
• pinch of salt

Steps

Fried Cheese Toast

1. Butter a slice of white bread on both sides. Try sourdough for a tangy flavor, or an airy bread like ciabatta if you like the cheese oozing through the holes and burning on the pan. Buttering both sides will create a golden crust and a moist interior.
   • If you use unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the pan to add more flavor.
2. Fry the bread on both sides (optional). A quick browning for a minute on each sides makes the toast extra rich and delicious. If you prefer to keep the middle of the bread soft, you can skip this entire pre-cook step.
3. Add optional ingredients. A spread of mustard or pinch of cayenne adds a kick of heat. A thin slice of ham and you have a croque monsieur. If it sounds good to you, it probably is – although you should stay away from vegetables that get soggy when cooked, such as lettuce or pickles.
4. Add sliced or grated cheese. Some cheeses melt into gooey goodness, and some cheeses have a strong flavor worthy of the toastie. Choose a cheese that does both, or combine a cheese from each category. Here's the breakdown:
   • Good melting cheeses: cheddar, Red Leicester, Gruyere, grated parmesan, Fontina, Emmental, Muenster, Gouda
   • Poor melting cheese (pair with one of the above): mozzarella, feta, provolone
5. Cook for about three minutes. Cook over medium-low heat, so the cheese has time to melt before the bread burns. Once brown and bubbly, transfer to a plate and serve hot. Eat plain or with chutney, brown sauce, or ketchup.

Baked Cheese Toast

1. Set your oven or toaster oven. If your toaster oven has a "broil" setting that heats from above, this gives the cheese an extra crisp. In a regular oven, the "broil" setting is worth a try if it's located at the top of your oven, but the high heat can turn the cheese rubbery. Here are your options:
   • Oven (normal bake): Preheat to 250ºC (480ºF).
   • Oven (overhead broil): Do not preheat. Move the oven rack to the lowest position to reduce heat.
   • Toaster oven: Do not preheat. If there's a temperature control, set it to 250ºC (480ºF).
2. Choose thick-sliced white bread. Any white bread will do. Thick slices are another barrier against burning, but pre-sliced grocery store bread works fine.
3. Butter one side of the bread. This step is essential to make the toast golden brown and slightly moist.
4. Bake until lightly toasted. Cook until the butter has melted and the bread is just starting to turn brown. This takes about 2–3 minutes. Remove it from the oven.
5. Cover completely with thin slices of cheese. Select a strong-tasting cheese, such as a sharp cheddar. Use a cheese slicer to make several thin slices. Lay them on the buttered bread, overlapping slightly. Cover every inch of the bread to make delicious bubbling cheese hat, instead of a layer of charcoal.
   • Grated parmesan works well too.
6. Cook until cheese begins to bubble and brown. Return the bread to the oven. Watch it like a hawk until the cheese has completely melted and started to get bubbling, brown patches. This takes another 3–5 minutes or so, but even one minute too long can turn it black.
   • This may only take 1–2 minutes if using a powerful broiler.

Welsh Rarebit

1. Toast the bread in a low-temperature oven. Butter the bread on one side and place it in a cold oven at its minimum temperature setting. This recipe is quite quick, but you should check on the toast every few minutes just in case. Remove once toasted to your preferred color.
2. Melt butter over low heat. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat until melted.
3. Whisk in flour. Pour in the flour and whisk or stir until mixed. Cook this roux mixture for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly. It should end up smooth and very slightly golden-brown.
4. Stir in liquids and spices. Pour in the beer and whisk until well combined. Whisk in the milk, or heavy cream for an extra-rich version. Stir in dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, and paprika.
   • For more color, save the paprika and sprinkle it on the plate after serving.
5. Gradually add cheese. Add the grated cheese a small handful at a time. Stir each handful until it melts. Reduce the heat if the mixture starts bubbling or frothing.
6. Taste test. Stir in a pinch of salt and taste the result. Add more spices if desired, or melt in more cheese if the flavor is too strong for you.
7. Remove from heat and beat in the egg yolk. Let the rarebit cool for a few minutes to reduce the chance of ending up with bits of scrambled egg. Beat in the egg yolk until the mixture is smooth.
8. Pour over the toast. Serve each person a slice of toast covered in a generous amount of Welsh rarebit. The mixture will be quite liquid, so provide knives and forks.

Tips

• To recreate the Sizzler recipe, spread an extra-thick slice of bread with a mix of Parmesan and margarine (or butter). Toast or grill on one side only, until golden brown. To get that spectrum of crisp to chewy, freeze the bread first and cook using cooking spray, not butter or oil.
• You can add all kinds of optional ingredients, from mustard to leftover mashed potato.
• If the cheese burns, peel the blackened cheese off the toast and eat the extra-gooey cheese underneath.
• If you're feeling adventurous, add some garlic powder. Better yet, learn how to make garlic bread.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Bacon and Beans on Toast
• Make Matzo Toast
• Toast a Bagel
• Make Toast
• Make Cinnamon Toast
• Make Buttered Toast
• Make Toast in an Oven

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