FONDUE RECIPES YOUR GUESTS WILL LOVE

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FONDUE RECIPES YOUR GUESTS WILL LOVE

The concept of fondue involves dipping a small portion of food (usually speared on the end of a stick) into a heated sauce of some kind. Special fondue pots can be bought at specialty kitchen stores or through mail order catalogs. If you don't have a fondue pot, you can use a saucepan on the stove to heat the ingredients, but you'll need some kind of heating unit and stand to serve the sauce to your guests. These recipes will get you started:

CHEESE FONDUE

1 clove garlic, cut in half
2 cuts light dry white wine (Riesling, Chablis)
1/2 pound imported Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Swiss or Danish Gruyere, shredded

NOTE: I have substituted regular cheddar and swiss for these two ingredients, but be careful in heating.

1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp dry mustard
3 tbsp kirsch (optional)
Nutmeg and pepper (optional) to taste
1 loaf french bread, cubed
2-3 small red apples, cubed
2-3 broccoli and/or caulif spears, cut so that strong stalk remains on each piece.

Rub the fondue pot with the cut garlic. Add wine and heat slowly until bubbles form and slowly rise to the surface. Combine cheeses, cornstarch and mustard in a bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the heated wine, stirring continuously until all the cheese is melted and blended into a smooth sauce. Stir in other ingredients and bring to a slow boil (hot enough to keep the sauce bubbling slowly, but not so hot that the cheese separates.)
Place trays of bread, apples, broccoli and caulif on the table around the fondue pot.
If fondue gets too thick, thin with heated wine.

MEDITERRANEAN FONDUE

1 lb. shelled shrimp
juice of 1 lemon
8 oz. Gruyere cheese
2 pints chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped dill
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 onions

Sprinkle shrimp with lemon juice and leave 10 minutes. Peel and chop onions. Grate cheese. Pour stock into metal fondue and heat. Add grated cheese and stir over low heat until melted; do not boil. Remove from heat, stir in onions, dill, cayenne, sugar and pepper. Bring pan to table and place on spirit burner. Drain shrimp, pat dry. Spear on fondue forks, dip in to fondue for 1 minute, then eat. Serve with slices of crusty Italian bread, hot.

BEEF FONDUE

2 - 2 1/2 pound boneless beef sirloin or tenderloin
Melted butter and salad oil (equal amounts of each)
Dipping sauce and butters

With this recipe your guests will be actually cooking the beef in the fondue pot, and then dipping in sauces arranged around the table.
Cut the meat into bit-sized cubes. Pour the melted butter and salad oil into your fondue pot or electric frying pan to a depth of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Heat just below the smoking point (about 425 degrees in an electric frying pan). Each guest spears a cube of meat with a fork and holds it in the heated butter-oil until cooked, about 1-2 minutes. When cooked, they dip the beef in one of the sauces.

SAUCES:

Teriyaki Sauce
A-1 Steak sauce
Horseradish
Toasted Onion Butter:Combine 1 tsp toasted dried onions, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup softened butter. Let stand several hours to blend flavors.
Blue Cheese Butter:Mix 1 package (4 oz.) blue cheese with 1/2 cup softened butter. Let stand several hours to blend flavors.
Mustard Butter:Mix 1/4 cup prepared mustard and 1/2 cup softened butter. Let stand to blend flavors.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

1 16 oz. pkg Nestle's Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large Hershey's chocolate bar
Milk, heavy cream, OR flavored creamer
Liquor (optional) such as Amaretto,
1 dozen plain cake donuts or pound cake, cubed
Fruits, such as marascino cherries, strawberries, bananas

In a sauce pan, melt the chocolate chips over a low heat. Add small squares of Hershey bar to to sweeten (to taste) and milk (or cream) in small amounts to keep consistency moist. Stir constantly to prevent chocolate sticking to bottom of pan.

Transfer melted chocolate to fondue pot and reduce heat so that chocolate stays liquid, but not bubbling. Cube dipping foods and arrange on trays around the fondue pot.

TIPS!

Throw a fondue party!You'll need two or three fondue pots if you're going to get serious about having a fondue party! Most fondue pots come with a set of "forks", but you can supplement these with long toothpick-like sticks from your local grocery store. You'll need a good supply of small napkins for your guests, as well as small plates - this meal can get messy, but it's a lot of fun!

Serve with pot in the center of a sturdy table where it is unlikely to be jarred, but easily reached. A small round table is best, so that guests can carry their plates and "spears" around the table, sampling a little of everything. For large groups, use several small tables, with a fondue pot on each.

Start with the cheese fondue as an appetizer. For your main course, the beef fondue and/or Mediterranean fondue. For dessert, the chocolate fondue of course!

The Art of "Spearing"
If your guests are unfamiliar with fondue, you might want to demonstrate this technique:

Spear food with fork
Dip into the pot and give it a good stir
Lift and twirl slowly
Move plate beneath fork and continue twirling until dripping stops and food has cooled.