Cheese Fondue and Chocolate Fondue

When my niece is here visiting, we have certain traditions that must be observed. Most of those traditions revolve around food, like everything in this family of mine, and one of them is fondue. Chocolate fondue to be exact. It started when I received a fondue pot at my bridal shower. I had never had fondue or even made it before. So after we were married and my niece came to stay, we had a little adventure creating the chocolate fondue. That created the fondue tradition: homemade pizza, chocolate fondue and a movie.

This year, I thought why not use the fondue pot a little more and instead of the pizza make cheese fondue. Unfortunately, I hate Swiss cheese and that is what most fondues are. So I found a cheddar cheese beer fondue recipe from Rachael Ray and modified it a little. Her recipe called for Gruyere, which is way too expensive, so I skipped that part. It was still good.

Before I made the cheese fondue, I made all the stuff for dipping. Bratwursts, fried and cut into rounds; breaded and fried chicken tenders; blanched broccoli and cauliflower pieces; and put out breadsticks. Of course, I kept the meat and veggies warm in the oven until we were ready to eat. Then I made the fondue...

Beer and Cheese Fondue

16 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cup Sam Adams Boston Lager or other lager beer
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp deli mustard, the spicy kind
1/2 tsp Frank's Red Hot
1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

In a medium saucepan, heat beer to a light simmer. Meanwhile, combine cheese and flour. When the beer is heated, slowly add cheese, stirring well after each addition.

Add mustard, red hot and worchestershire sauce and stir. Remove from heat and pour immediately into fondue pot.

Serve with the dipping thingys.

(there is another tradition that goes with fondue: if anybody drops something in the fondue pot, they have to kiss everybody else's cheek)

Moving on to dessert:

Chocolate fondue. Who can say no to warm, drizzily, delicious chocolateyness?

Again, I prepare the stuff for dipping first. I usually get any berries I can find, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, snozberries...just kidding. But really, any berries will be great. I also cut up bananas and/or apples, and pound cake and add large marshmallows and pretzel rods.

When all of that is assembled, I make the fondue.

Chocolate Fondue

1/2 cup heavy cream

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, heat the cream until the steam is starting to rise. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until melted. Stir in the vanilla and pour into the heated (and cleaned) fondue pot. Voila. Wasn't that easy?

What to do with the leftovers?

I find that leftover chocolate fondue is delicious eaten with a spoon right out of the fridge. I've also scooped it out and rolled it into little truffles that I then rolled in chopped nuts, powdered sugar or cocoa and made myself bon bons.

We did have an awful lot of cheese fondue and broccoli and cauliflower left over and that is going to go bad if just left to itself. The next day, we made steak and baked potatoes at my mother-in-law's Extended Stay hotel complete with another tiny kitchen and outdoor grill. I steamed the leftover broccoli and cauliflower and turned the cheese fondue into cheese sauce to top the veggies. To turn fondue into sauce, pour leftover fondue into a saucepan, add a splash of milk and a little butter (the ratios all depend on how much of the fondue is leftover) and heat, stirring occasionally. Add a little more milk to reach desired consistency and pour over your veggies and baked potatoes. It was quite good, if I do say so myself.