Agatha Christie said of her grandmother, “Although a completely cheerful person, she always expected the worst of anyone and everything. And with almost frightening accuracy [she was] usually proved right.” Her grandmother would say “I shouldn’t be surprised if so-and-so was going on,” Christie recalled. “And although with no grounds for these assertions, that was exactly what was going on.” Sounds just like my grandmother Elsie. Elsie fancied herself an adept armchair detective. She was thrilled when our neighbor was murdered. Wait—that might lend the wrong impression. She was saddened by the loss of life, certainly, but elated at the chance to do some sleuthing and speculating. She quickly deemed it a love triangle gone wrong, a day before the police figured it out. I can see her now, seated in her floral chintz wingback chair with feet propped on the hearth, reading a good mystery. I must say that on early dark winter evenings I find myself right there in her favorite wingback, set about my guilty pleasure of working my way through The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, all 1,878 pages of it, with a plate of Elsie’s rarebit to sustain me.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 2
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oven to 450°F.
Step 2
In a large bowl, combine the cheese, egg yolks, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and horseradish. Set aside.
Step 3
Whip the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Add one third of the egg whites to the cheese mixture and stir to combine. Then fold in the remaining egg whites.
Step 4
Put the bread slices in a baking dish and spread the cheese mixture over them. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is puffy and bubbly-brown around the edges.
Notes
Step 5
I like a big dollop of Major Grey’s chutney on the side in winter or sliced tomatoes in summer.
Step 6
Hard hoop cheese is a waxed-rind cheese sometimes called rat trap cheese. Hoop cheese was widely available in groceries, cut to order on a special hoop cheese cutter. It is made by pressing fresh cheese curds into a round mold, hence the name “hoop.”
