Caerphilly with leeks, mustard & heavy cream.

Nigel Slater published a richer version of Sykes’ rabbit in The Guardian a few months after her Sunday Night Book hit the actual and virtual shelves. Hopkins is no plagiarist: His version of the harmonious combination differs just enough to distinguish it. For two.

• a trimmed and thinly sliced and vigorously washed leek
• about a Tablespoon unsalted butter
• about a Tablespoon flour (preferably Wondra)
• about ¼ cup heavy cream
• about 3 oz Caerphilly
• about 1 Tablespoon English or Dijon mustard
• about 1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
• salt (maybe; the cheese is salty) and pepper
• 2 thick slices good toast

1. Soften the leek in the butter, covered over low heat, until it softens, usually in about 10 minutes. “Don’t,” as Slater warns, “let it brown” or it will get bitter.
2. Stir the flour into the leek to make a smooth but leeky roux, then add the cream followed by the mustards.
3. Heat the rabbit through and season it judiciously.
4. Heat the broiler (the grill in Britain), smear the rabbit over the toast and blast it until it “has turned patchily golden.” Slater likes his “blistereddark brown here and there,” a good move.

Notes:

-Slater suggests covering the leeks with fitted parchment paper at Step 1 to help dter them from browning. “The paper, he explains, “encourages the leek to cook in its own steam rather than fry, resulting in soft green [and also of course white] slices.”

-His version appeared in the 23 April 2019 edition of the paper.

-As is his custom these days, Slater suggests an alternative recipe, “The twist.” It may be better than its model.

“Onions and cheese make a fine topping for toast. After peeling, cut the onions in half and then into segments, letting them cook slowly in butter until they are truly soft and translucent. Then carry on as above, but [like Sykes with her leek version] with 1 tsp of chopped thyme leaves added. Pieces of bacon, crisped on the grill [broiler], then crumbled into the cheese and leek topping is a thoroughly good thing, as is a layer of air-dried ham placed under the filling before toasting.”

-Thoroughly good things indeed.

-Although he specifies Caerphilly, Slater opens the door, in somewhat dissonant prose, to alternatives, suggesting “you use a full-flavoured frsamhouse cheese.”

-The best ham for the job would be a country ham like Benton’s or Surrey from the American south.