The Complete Book of Cheese Part 9

Border-hopping Bunny, or Frijole Rabbit

1-1/2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped onion 2 tablespoons chopped pepper, green or red, or both 1-1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1 small can kidney beans, drained 1-1/2 tablespoons catsup 1/2 teaspoon Worcesters.h.i.+re Salt 2 cups grated cheese

Cook onion and pepper lightly in b.u.t.ter with chili powder; add kidney beans and seasonings and stir in the cheese until melted.

Serve this beany Bunny peppery hot on tortillas or crackers, toasted and b.u.t.tered.

In the whole hutch of kitchen Rabbitry the most popular modern ones are made with tomato, a little or lots. They hop in from everywhere, from Mexico to South Africa, and call for all kinds of quirks, down to mixing in some dried beef, and there is even a skimpy Tomato Rabbit for reducers, made with farmer cheese and skimmed milk.

Although the quaintly named Rum Tum Tiddy was doubtless the great-grandpappy of all Tomato Rabbits, a richer, more b.u.t.tery and more eggy one has taken its place as the standard today. The following is a typical recipe for this, tried and true, since it has had a successful run through a score of the best modern cookbooks, with only slight personal changes to keep its juice a-flowing blood-red.

Tomato Rabbit

2 tablespoons b.u.t.ter 2 tablespoons flour 3/4 cup thin cream or evaporated milk 3/4 cup canned tomato pulp, rubbed through a sieve to remove seeds A pinch of soda 3 cups grated cheese Pinches of dry mustard, salt and cayenne 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Blend flour in melted b.u.t.ter, add cream slowly, and when this white sauce is a little thick, stir in tomato sprinkled with soda. Keep stirring steadily while adding cheese and seasonings, and when cooked enough, stir in the eggs to make a creamy texture, smooth as silk. Serve on b.u.t.tered whole wheat or graham bread for a change.

Instead of soda, some antiquated recipes call for "a tablespoon of bicarbonate of potash."

South African Tomato Rabbit

This is the same as above, except that 1/2 teaspoon of sugar is used in place of the soda and the Rabbit is poured over baked pastry cut into squares and sprinkled with parsley, chopped fine, put in the oven and served immediately.

Rum Tum Tiddy, Rink Tum Ditty, etc. (OLD BOSTON STYLE)

1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 1 onion, minced 1 teaspoon salt 1 big pinch of pepper 2 cups cooked tomatoes 1 tablespoon sugar 3 cups grated store cheese 1 egg, lightly beaten

Slowly fry onion bright golden in b.u.t.ter, season and add tomatoes with sugar. Heat just under the bubbling point. Don't let it boil, but keep adding cheese and shaking the pan until it melts.

Then stir in egg gently and serve very hot

Tomato Soup Rabbit

1 can condensed tomato soup 2 cups grated cheese 1/4 teaspoon English mustard 1 egg, lightly beaten Salt and pepper

Heat soup, stir in cheese until melted, add mustard and egg slowly, season and serve hot.

This is a quickie Rum Tum Tiddy, without any onion, a poor, housebroken version of the original. It can be called a Celery Rabbit if you use a can of celery soup in place of the tomato.

Onion Rum Tum Tiddy

Prepare as in Rum Tum Tiddy, but use only 1-1/2 cups cooked tomatoes and add 1/2 cup of mashed boiled onions.

Sherry Rum Tum Tiddy

1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 1 small onion, minced 1 small green pepper, minced 1 can tomato soup 3/4 cup milk 3 cups grated cheese 1/2 teaspoon Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce Salt and pepper 1 egg, lightly beaten 1 jigger sherry Crackers

Prepare as in Rum Tum Tiddy. Stir in sherry last to retain its flavor. Crumble crackers into a hot tureen until it's about 1/3 full and pour the hot Rum Tum Tiddy over them.

Blus.h.i.+ng Bunny

This is a sister-under-the-skin to the old-fas.h.i.+oned Rum Tum Tiddy, except that her complexion is made a little rosier with a lot of paprika in place of plain pepper, and the paprika cooked in from the start, of course.

Blus.h.i.+ng Bunny is one of those playful English names for dishes, like Pink Poodle, Scotch Woodc.o.c.k (given below), Bubble and Squeak _(Bubblum Squeak.u.m_), and Toad in the Hole.

Scotch Woodc.o.c.k

Another variant of Rum Tum Tiddy. Make your Rum Tum Tiddy, but before finis.h.i.+ng up with the beaten egg, stir in 2 heaping tablespoons of anchovy paste and prepare the b.u.t.tered toast by laying on slices of hard-cooked eggs.

American Woodchuck

1-1/2 cups tomato puree 2 cups grated cheese 1 egg, lightly beaten Cayenne 1 tablespoon brown sugar Salt and pepper

Heat the tomato and stir in the cheese. When partly melted stir in the egg and, when almost cooked, add seasonings without ever interrupting the stirring. Pour over hot toasted crackers or bread.

No doubt this all-American Tomato Rabbit with brown sugar was named after the native woodchuck, in playful imitation of the Scotch Woodc.o.c.k above. It's the only Rabbit we know that's sweetened with brown sugar.

Running Rabbit (_as served at the Waldorf-Astoria, First Annual Cheeselers Field Day, November 12,1937_)

Cut finest old American cheese in very small pieces and melt in saucepan with a little good beer. Season and add Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce. Serve instantly with freshly made toast.

This running cony can be poured over toast like any other Rabbit, or over crushed crackers in a hot tureen, as in Sherry Rum Tum Tiddy, or served like Fondue, in the original cooking bowl or pan, with the spoon kept moving in it in one direction only and the Rabbit following the spoon, like a greyhound following the stuffed rabbit at the dog races.

Mexican Chilaly

1 tablespoon b.u.t.ter 3 tablespoons chopped green pepper 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped onion 1 cup chopped and drained canned tomatoes, without seeds 2-1/2 cups grated cheese 3/4 teaspoon salt Dash of cayenne 1 egg, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons canned tomato juice Water cress

Cook pepper and onion lightly in b.u.t.ter, add tomato pulp and cook 5 minutes before putting over boiling water and stirring steadily as you add cheese and seasonings. Moisten the egg with the tomato juice and stir in until the Rabbit is thick and velvety.

Serve on toast and dress with water cress.

This popular modern Rabbit seems to be a twin to Rum Tum Tiddy in spite of the centuries' difference in age.

Fluffy, Eggy Rabbit

Stir up a Chilaly as above, but use 2 well-beaten eggs to make it more fluffy, and leave out the watercress. Serve it hot over cold slices of hard-cooked eggs crowded flat on hot b.u.t.tered toast, to make it extra eggy.