Michela's St David's Day Feast
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! To celebrate St David's day, Michela’s preparing a feast to make Wales proud. Starting off with a punchy, cheesy, toasty delight – her leek Welsh rarebit. Before sweetening things off, with her grandfather's traditional Welsh cakes.
Welsh rarebit with crispy caramelised leeks
Serves 4
Ingredients
250 g mature cheddar cheese - grated
30 ml ale or beer
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp salted softened Welsh butter
1 tbsp demerara sugar
0.5 tsp English mustard powder
4 thick slices good quality bread (ideally sourdough)
150-200g leeks - trimmed, halved and sliced thin lengthways
Method
1. Preheat the grill too high.
2. In a bowl mix your cheese, ale, worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp butter and mustard.
3. In a frying pan melt 2 tbsp butter and demerara sugar and add the shredded leeks, coat them in the butter/sugar and turn the heat high. Once they start to crisp and caramelise, lower the heat and continue to cook keeping a check that they don't burn. You will need to keep them on longer than you expect so that they go brown and crispy (not burnt). Once caramelised, remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the bread on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil and lightly toast on each side. Spread the cheese sauce thickly over the bread, making sure the slices are completely covered so the edges don’t burn.
5. Return to the grill until the cheese is melted and bubbling
6. Once the cheese is bubbling, add your leeks on top and enjoy
Welsh Cakes
Serves 20Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 - 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 large - egg
100g currants, raisins or sultanas
250g self - raising flour
90g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle
A pinch of fine salt
30g unsalted butter
90g soft margarine
A splash of milk
Method
1. Beat the egg, stir in the currants and set aside while you prepare the dough.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Rub in the butter and margarine. Add the egg - and - raisin mixture and gently combine to form a dough. You may need to add a splash of milk if the mixture is too dry.
3. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 0.75cm. Using a 5 cm round pastry cutter or glass, cut the dough into circles.
4. Place a large heavy - bottomed, non - stick frying pan over a low - to - medium heat. When the pan is hot, place the Welsh cake in the pan, a few at a time and cook for about 1 ½ minutes on each side, until golden brown. If they are turning brown too quickly or burning but not cooking in the middle, lower the heat. If they are taking longer than 2 minutes to cook on each side, turn up the heat as they will dry out if they are cooked for too long. Transfer the hot Welsh cake to a plate and sprinkle with a little sugar.