If you’ve been reading my MPSIMS thread, I recently got my own apartment for the first time. I’m nearly finished furnishing the place and in a few weeks I’m going to have a small housewarming party - just my mother, myself, and possibly my sister. The main course is shrimp scampi with fettucine and garlic bread, I’m making a flourless chocolate torte for dessert, and for appetizers I’m going to serve melon spears with balsamic glaze and (by my mom’s request) cheese fondue.
I have never made fondue before but I’ve eaten at the Melting Pot before but I have been gifted an electric fondue set. At my work they sell “just melt and serve” bricks of fondue cheese in the deli department, but I’d like to put in the effort of making it from scratch. I’m thinking either a sharp cheddar fondue like the Melting Pot serves, or a traditional Swiss fondue with white cheese.
Anyone got a recipe that they swear by? Any dippers aside from sliced baguette that you’d recommend?
Sounds like you’ve got an awesome spread already, and nothing beats good bread chunks, so I don’t necessarily “recommend” anything else … but it you want some suggestions, sure: raw or lightly steamed broccoli florets come to mind. As do succulent chunks of chicken thighs (previously poached in well-salted water, served chilled is fine).
ETA: also, lightly cooked/almost raw chilled asparagus spears.
Shred 8 oz gruyere and 8 oz Swiss coarsely and mix in a bowl with half a teaspoon of flour. I’m a Swiss/emmenthal freak but for fondue the pre-shredded grocery store stuff works fine.
Take a clove of garlic and cut into thirds. Use the “wet” faces to coat the inside of the fondue pot. I usually rub for about a minute. Chop the remaining garlic as finely as possible and disperse half in the bowl of cheese.
Pour half a can of lager or pilsner (I use Corona Extra) into fondue pot. Toss in a healthy pinch of freshly ground pepper and salt and the rest of the garlic. Turn on pot and simmer - mine actually has a “simmer” option in the temp control.
Once the beer is bubbling heartily turn up the temp to the lower range and start mixing in the cheese. I usually do half a handful at a time, mixing each in with a wooden spoon until I can’t see any shredded bits. By the time you stir it all in it should have the consistency of thick soup. I tend to have to adjust the temperature constantly in this phase. You want it just high enough to melt the cheese but no higher because otherwise it will start to burn into the bottom.
Toss on another pinch of pepper and serve as soon as all the cheese has fully melted. I use a very thin baguette cut in half lengthwise and then sliced. The recipes always call for cubes but the baguette crust gives you something to put the skewer through so it doesn’t fall off.
Leave the pot on the simmer setting while serving. You may have to turn it up slightly if the cheese starts to harden. I scrape the bottom with the wooden spoon every few minutes to prevent burning.
Beer? Not dry white wine? and a pinch of nutmeg? … beer sounds interesting…
I make cheater’s fondue since I don’t have a fondue set and live alone. I cut up a piece of baguette (sometimes toasted) into chunks in a bowl and heat a packet of fondue cheese (from the grocery store cheese department) if I find it. I usually do half a packet at a time and freeze the other half. Spoon it over the bread chunks. ‘Swiss Knight’ or ‘Emmi’ - Walmart, Aldi, or Trader Joes sells it.
A good recipe, although I use a dry white wine and nutmeg, like @ salinqmind1 suggested.
You can also make an oil fondue. Just heat up a good quality oil in the pot and cook small meatballs, shrimp, chicken pieces, etc. in the oil using the same fondue forks. Dip in a sauce of your choice (I prefer a sweet/sour and a simple mayo/curry).
Can I use vermouth or would that be too overpowering? My scampi recipe calls for vermouth and since I don’t drink wine I’d rather not buy two bottles if I can use just one. (Or maybe I could just use a dry white for the scampi instead.)
I always use vermouth in fondue, and it is fine. Just whatever bottom shelf dry vermouth is on sale. Neither my wife nor I drink wine, so based on a cooking tip I heard long ago, perhaps from on TV? I use vermouth in anything that calls for white wine, and sherry for anything that calls for red. Unlike the real thing, they’re both shelf stable so we don’t have to throw away spoiled bottles.
My fondue recipe is a very plain and traditional one.
1 garlic clove, halved
1 pound Gruyère cheese, grated
1/2 pound Emmentaler cheese or other Swiss cheese, grated
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons kirsch
Freshly ground black pepper
Normal steps
grate cheese and combine with corn starch—Optional, freeze at the end of this step for easy fondue later
rub fondue pot with garlic
add wine (vermouth) to pot and heat
when wine is hot add cheese a handful at a time
when last handful is mostly melted, add another
repeat until the cheese is gone
add lemon juice, pepper, and kirsch, stir
get to dipping!
This makes a lot of fondue. It is a meal for four people. I’ve never tried halving it, but that might work. I usually grate double the amount of cheese (in a food processor), and freeze half.
I don’t have any complaints about the recipe, and I’ve used both beer and white wines, but I find when I’m doing fondue for presentation as it were, that I prefer to use white pepper (slightly smaller quantities than black) for the appearance.
It’s a really, really minor consideration, but since you’re having an event to remember, it might be worth it.
That was always fondue to me: meat on a fork, in the fondue pot. We used peanut oil, but I guess you could use canola oil, or any other vegetable oil. No cheese anywhere.
Sauces could be anything that goes, or seems to go, with the meat. Heck, I loved shrimp cocktail sauce with a beef-in-oil fondue. Or HP Sauce, or A-1, or Worcestershire or ketchup (or both) …
It might be hard to halve the recipe, because with more surface to volume, it’s trickier to melt it all without burning any in the bottom. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but you might have a challenge.
Personally, I’d use white wine for both the scampi and the fondue. But i like wine more than vermouth.
