There's something about having fondue that is so romantic. Dipping fruit, bread, meat, veggies, etc. into the same bowl with your sweetheart and then serving it to each other or just sharing out of the same container.
Friday I shared a recipe that you can have for your Valentine's breakfast. Saturday a luscious alcoholic drink and now today a hot, gooey, fondue.
Look at any fondue recipe and you’ll see there are three elements: cheese, wine or other alcohol like beer, and a seasoning, such as garlic. Some recipes use only one cheese, others are blends. You can create your own blends with your favorite cheeses—stick to the medium and semi-hard cheeses, avoiding very soft and very hard cheeses, which are either too liquid or don’t have enough moisture to melt easily.
Classic Cheese Fondue Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound Cave Aged Gruyère
1 pound Swiss Emmenthaler
1 pound Appenzeller
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Black pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, halved
Cubed crusty bread & other accompaniments, such as sausage,
steamed vegetables and cubed ham or turkey
Preparation
Coarsely grate the cheese. In medium pot, toss cheese together with cornstarch. Place the pot over medium heat and add the wine and lemon juice.
When hot, add a handful of the cheese mixture at a time, stirring until melted. Add black pepper to taste.
If serving in a fondue pot, rub the fondue pot with cut sides of garlic cloves and discard garlic. Set it on its stand over a low flame and pour the melted fondue in.
Serve with crusty bread cubes, and steamed or raw veggies.
Want to change it up a bit? Here are a few of other ideas that you can use with this basic fondue.
Goat Cheese Fondue
Melt goat Cheddar and Jack cheeses with white wine. Season with chopped Portabella mushrooms.
Italian Fondue
Melt Fontina and Taleggio cheeses. Mix in 1 cup of crushed tomatoes (canned or aseptic boxed tomatoes are better than fresh tomatoes for this recipe). Season with chopped fresh basil and garlic.
Swiss Cheese Fondue
Gruyere and Emmenthaler cheeses with a dry white wine base. Garlic, Kirschwasser and an array of other spices
No matter what you throw into the pot it's sure to be delicious!
I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!
