Birthday fondue

Several of our friends' birthdays are this month, including Kendra, Michael and Lindsey on Feb. 20, 24 and 26, respectively. We thought we'd go to The Melting Pot for a gooey, cheesy celebration triple date, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, Lindsey, Brad and I cooked up a wonderful homemade gooey, cheesy celebration at M&K's house.

Right before we dug in: Emma sure enjoyed it! I can't believe those are the only photos I took of the whole evening. I didn't even get the birthday boy and girl (Lindsey's having her very-own celebration this week!). I think I was just too busy chowing on the super-delicious dinner and ice cream dessert.

As for the food, Lindsey and I chose two different cheese fondues: "Cheese Fondue" from Simply Recipes and Cheese & Onion Fondue from The Book of Fondues by Lorna Rhodes. It was our first attempt at the fancy cheese sauces, so the Simply Recipes photos and directions helped guide us. Brad and I did most of the prep work and Lindsey watched the pots.

Cheese Fondue

• 1/2 lb. Swiss-style cheese such as Jarlsberg or Emmenthaler, shredded (we used whatever imported Swiss they had at Grocery Outlet)
  
• 1/2 lb. Gruyere cheese, shredded (we had to buy this at Albertson's - and it's really expensive!)
  
• 2 T flour or cornstarch (we used cornstarch)
• 1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
• 1 c dry white wine - such as Sauvignon Blanc (we used Sauvignon Blanc from Grocery Outlet)
  
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T kirsch - cherry brandy (we looked at the liquor store but decided that at $20+ a bottle, we'd skip it)
  
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1. Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a plastic freezer bag. Seal, shake to coat the cheese. Set aside.

2. Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the cut garlic, then discard. Add the wine and lemon juice to the pot, and bring to a low simmer on medium heat. Bit by bit, slowly stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zigzag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook just until the cheese is melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in kirsch (again, we skipped this), mustard and nutmeg.

3. Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a low flame to keep warm. If your pot is thin-bottomed, a lit candle will probably do. If thick-bottomed, you can use a small Sterno.

4. Arrange various dipping foods around the fondue pot.

Cheese & Onion Fondue (in the chrome fondue pot)

• 2 T butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 t flour
• 2/3 c sour cream
• 2 c (8 oz) shredded Gruyere cheese (because it was so expensive, we substituted more of the imported Swiss from the other recipe)
• 2 c (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 T snipped chives (we used green onions)
• pepper

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onion and cook 4-5 minutes or until soft but not brown.

2. Stir in flour; add sour cream and cook 2 minutes. Add cheeses and continue to cook, stirring, until mixture is smooth.

3. Add chives and season with pepper. Pour into fondue pot and serve.

We set out all kinds of dippers: crusty bread, cubed ham, cauliflower, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, apples, grapes, celery, zucchini. I turned the left over chunks into stir-fry :)

The fondue was time consuming to make... and not cheap to buy... but I thought it was very good. I preferred the Cheese & Onion, which was more mild, especially with bread or mushrooms. The "Cheese Fondue" recipe was very traditional and white winey. Both were worthy of a second try.

:)