Can You Fondue?

Forgive me the corny joke, but I am back with details (and recipes) from our Fondue night on Sunday night.   As I alluded to in this post, we had Ashlee and JY over for dinner on Sunday night.  It was a potluck style dinner that broke down like this:

Us:

Cheese fondue course with fixings (french bread, sliced bell peppers, sliced apples)

A protein (mixed seafood from Trader Joe's containing shrimp, scallops and calamari) 

A sauce for dipping (Horseradish sauce and cocktail sauce)

Broth for the protein course

Our fondue pot (for the cheese course)

A borrowed fondue pot from a friend (for the protein course)

Champagne for drinking

Them:

A protein (chicken and steak)

A sauce for dipping (Sweet Asian dipping sauce)

Chocolate fondue course with fixings (pretzels, giant marshmallows and strawberries)

Moscow Mules

Their fondue pot

I only took pictures of our offerings because we were hungry and anxious to get the show on the road once our guests arrived!

A few notes about the evening:

• We used a cheese fondue packet from Trader Joe's that made our life much easier.  All you had to do was slowly add the cheese packet into the fondue pot and stir until it was melted--this is also a much cheaper option as well because the whole packet cost 5.99 whereas the ingredients to make it from scratch would have cost a lot more.  If you would like to make it from scratch or don't have a Trader Joe's in your area, I've included the recipe at the end of this blog post!
• Our fondue pot is a 70s relic I got at a garage sale last year for five bucks!  Unlike the newer models, it runs off of Sterno.  If the power ever goes out, we can boil water and heat up soups with the strike of a match!  Plus, I like the cheery orange color it adds to our table.
• Protein courses take a long time.  Each piece of meat takes 3-4 minutes and even with each person using two skewers, we were working at it for a while!
• The broth left from the protein course is delicious as its had all sorts of good things simmering in it for an hour or more--do not throw this out but reuse it.  It would make for great risotto!
• 3 fondue pots is a necessity--no need to wash dishes between courses!  We moved seamlessly from one course to the next.
• We should use our wedding china and cloth napkins more often.  They make any meal feel special!
• Having a fondue night at home is more fun and way less expensive than going out to places like The Melting Pot.  For the four of us, each couple paid about forty dollars or less including alcohol.  Compare that to the cost for two at The Melting Pot where we have known people to spend one hundred plus dollars there (we've never been ourselves)
• This would be a great dinner date for kids and adults alike.   The younger ones would probably need help with the skewers, especially with the protein course, but it would definitely be fun and a break from the ordinary!

Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue, taken from The 125 Best Fondue Recipes cookbook

Ingredients:
8 ounces of Emmentaler cheese, grated
8 ounces of Gruyere cheese, grated
1 clove garlic, halved
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons kirsch (dry cherry schnapps)--we substitute this with 2 tablespoons of water when we make cheese fondue from scratch and it turns out just fine!
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg


Kitchen Supplies:
Box grater
Fondue pot
Fondue skewers
Large saucepan
Glass or metal bowl
Whisk

In a bowl combine cheeses, mixing well to combine.  Set aside.  Rub the inside of a large saucepan with cut sides of garlic.  Discard remaining garlic.  Add wine and lemon juice, bringing to a simmer over medium heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low.

Add cheese mixture in small amounts to saucepan, whisking constantly after each addition in a figure-eight motion until cheese is melted.

In a small bowl, whisk together kirsch (or water) and cornstarch until smooth; stir into melted cheese.  Season with white pepper and nutmeg, stirring until smooth.  Transfer to a fondue pot and serve immediately.


Horseradish Dip, modified from The 125 Best Fondue Recipes cookbook

The horseradish sauce is in the wavy ramekins pictured above.  We garnished them with lemon zest and red bell pepper.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1/4 cup Greek style yogurt--the original recipe calls for mayonnaise, but J and JY are not fans so we substituted with yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar


Kitchen Supplies:
Measuring spoons
Glass mixing bowl or 3 cup measuring cup--I just mixed it all up in the measuring cup which cut down on the number of dishes we dirtied!
Serving dish(es)
Plastic wrap

In a bowl combine horseradish, yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice and sugar, mixing well.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (the cookbook recommends overnight) to allow flavors to blend.  Bring to room temperature before serving and pour into serving dishes.


Have you ever tried making fondue at home?  How did it go?  Any tips for me?  Let's hear it!

Smoked Gouda and Chipotle Mac and Cheese

While watching Food Network this weekend, we stumbled upon a new show, Week in a Day with Rachael Ray.  I had seen commercials for it and it was advertised as appearing on the Cooking Channel (a new channel we don't get) so I was pleasantly surprised when they aired an episode on the Food Network (a cooking channel we do get).  Why am I bringing this up?  Because one of her dishes was the inspiration for the recipe I am going to share with you all.

She made a spicy crab cake mac and cheese which looked delicious and had me craving some cheesy goodness myself.  However, due to resolution number 3, I wanted to find a more healthy alternative because I just knew her recipe would be full of calories.  I found a smoked gouda mac and cheese in my Cooking Light cookbook and made a few adjustments (like adding adobo sauce to it) to make it closer to what we saw Rachael make on TV.  The results were delicious!

Smoked Gouda and Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese, adapted from The Best of Cooking Light cookbook

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter, divided
1 one ounce piece of whole wheat sandwich bread, grated into crumbs
4 cups elbow macaroni, cooked (about 2 cups dried)
1/4 cup green onions, diced
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from can of chipotles in adobo sauce--if you want more spice, substitute adobo sauce with a chopped chipotle--seeding it to reduce the heat, leaving the seeds in for extra spice!  Since this recipe only serves four, I just used the sauce this time to make sure it wasn't too spicy.  Next time I think we'll add a seeded and chopped chipotle instead!
2 cups fat free milk
1/4 cup smoked gouda, grated
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
5 cups fresh spinach
Salt
Pepper
Cooking spray

Kitchen Supplies:
Stock pot for boiling pasta
Large skillet
Box grater for cheese and bread crumbs 
Food processor, optional for use in making breadcrumbs
2 quart glass baking dish

Grate the slice of bread using either a food processor or a box grater.  I used a box grater (the side with the small holes) because I knew I would be using it to grate the gouda and didn't want to make unnecessary dishes for myself.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet.  Add onions and garlic and saute for five minutes.  Add adobo sauce or chipotles.  Add flour and stir constantly until flour is cooked and loses its raw taste, about one minute. Whisk in milk, salt and pepper until sauce combines. Bring to a boil and cook down for two minutes until sauce is thickened.

Remove from heat and add cheeses, stirring again with the wooden spoon until cheeses have melted.  Add pasta and spinach.  This may seem like a lot of spinach but it will wilt and cook down quickly.

Once combined, spoon into a greased (with cooking spray) 2 quart glass baking dish.  Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the dish.

Bake uncovered for fifteen minutes or until bubbly.

Remove from oven and pour additional one tablespoon of melted butter over the top of the bread crumbs.  Turn the oven to broil and broil for two minutes until the bread crumbs brown slightly.  Remove and serve.

Calories: 415 
Serving size: 1 1/4 cups
Serves: 4

J and I are trying to go meat free at least once a week to not only save money but also to be more conscious of the meat we are consuming.  This is a great vegetarian meal due to the protein and iron from the cheese and spinach and it's so creamy and delicious you won't miss meat at all!

We really enjoyed this guilt-free meal and will definitely be making again next time we have a craving for Mac and Cheese.  It's a great way to satisfy the craving without expanding your waist line!