Celebrate the Spring Gardening Season: Asparagus Rarebit

By Anne Donnelly

An asparagus bed is a lifetime investment. Once this vegetable is established, it will keep producing yearly for generations. Besides a delicious flavor and nutritious attributes, asparagus is also valued for its quick and early appearance in the spring garden.

I'm asking you to suspend your judgment until you give this very unlikely but delicious dish a try.

It's an open faced sandwich starting with toast; spread that with peanut butter (I like chunky), then steamed asparagus, then crisp bacon and top it with warm Welsh Rarebit sauce.

Stouffer's makes an adequate Welsh Rarebit, but it is now very hard to find. We used to have this often in the spring - it's a family favorite, but since I have to make my own, we have it less often. If anyone has an easier version, let me know!

Welsh Rarebit (or Rabbit?)

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup beer (light or ale OK) room temperature
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
  • cayenne (pinch)
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups cheddar cheese, grated (approx 1/2 lb.)

1. Melt butter in a double boiler.

2. Whisk beer, egg yolks, and seasoning - set aside.

3. Add cheese to butter a little at a time. Stir one direction only; when cheese forms thick mass, add the ale mixture, a little at a time, stirring constantly.

Second in a series of seasonal garden-based recipes by Arboretum volunteers. Next issue: the peak-of-summer garden.


Spring 2016

Volume 34 , Number 2

Share this

The Latest from Landis

Oct 04, 2024 | Fred Breglia

From the Director’s Desk: Where to See Big Trees -- Locally! (Part II)

So you want to see a “Big Tree” but aren’t sure where to start? After... read more

Oct 04, 2024 | Morgan McClary

Landis Portraits: Bruce Bonacquist

Bruce Bonacquist enjoys the element of surprise found within nature.“I like to be surprised, and... read more

Oct 04, 2024 | Jim Paley

A Day in the Life of the Nicholas J. Juried Meeting House

Day breaks at the Arboretum. The first rays of sunlight touch the Nicholas J. Juried... read more

Oct 04, 2024 | Shayne Mitchell

News and Muse from the Bluebird Trail

All nest monitoring is conducted in accordance with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Nestwatch Nest... read more

Oct 04, 2024 | Nolan Marciniec

Evergreen Memories:  Pass-Along Plants

Gardeners celebrate the moment, relishing a perfect blossom, a bountiful crop of vegetables, a fortuitous... read more

Oct 04, 2024 | Louise Polli

Reciprocal Gardens  Membership Benefit:  Visiting the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

Spring and fall, you mark your calendars to be sure you don’t miss Pick of... read more

News Archive