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Cream Cheese Rarebit

A creamy cheese sauce made with cream cheese, milk, butter, eggs, and seasonings, served hot over crackers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Cream Cheese Rarebit

Ingredients

Directions

Combine

  1. Add a small cream cheese and a cup of milk.

  2. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 6 eggs.

  3. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper to taste, and unsweetened crackers.

Cook

  1. Put butter into the base of a chafing dish; when melted, add the milk, seasonings, and slightly beaten eggs.

  2. Stir and cook like scrambled eggs.

  3. When nearly ready, add the cheese rubbed through a sieve.

Serve

  1. Serve hot on crackers.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

186Calories
7 gProtein
17 gFat
2 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set as they cook, thickening the mixture into soft, creamy curds.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking.
Milk (in the method)
Provides liquid that keeps the eggs soft and the mixture smooth.
Cream cheese (in the method)
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture as it melts into the mixture.

The step that matters

Cook the eggs gently and keep stirring. Egg proteins set quickly and can turn grainy or curdled if overheated. Low, steady heat and constant stirring keep the mixture smooth and creamy.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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