So, one of the things that I like about this whole “relaunch” of the blog is that Matt is posting more often! Sure, yes, he’s posting about people getting punched in the face and fingers being sliced off and more BOY ACTION than you can shake a stick at, but at least the blog is getting a good workout. One of the things I actually want to share on here that I never felt quite belonged before is my semi-obnoxious obsession with cooking and baking. So, here’s a bit of domesticity to balance out the ass kicking and unsportsmanlike behavior.
We have special weekly hang-out nights with our friends to watch LOST. We’ve all been attending LOST nights pretty consistently for almost two years now, and each LOST night typically has a “theme,” around which we all bring a related food. We have pancake night or mexican night or italian night or luau night, etc. But I think that we can all agree (right, friends?) that the most popular LOST night is fondue night!! Mm, fondue night. Fondue night happens only about once or twice a year, because it is a most decadent occasion, but man, we are serious fondue lovers around here. And last night was: FONDUE NIGHT! The most wonderful night of the year. I am the unofficially appointed fondue chef, and our friends bring the dippers, so yesterday was pretty much spent in a flurry of fondue preparation. The results were obviously magical! We filled our bellies and drank lots of wine and even enjoyed a pretty good episode of Lost! For once! And today I wanted to share my recipes (and whatever little fondue “tricks” I’ve learned along the way) and a picture of Matt, eating fondue. Because I know that’s what y’all all want to see.
We do two fondues, a beer-cheddar fondue, and a chocolate coconut fondue. Very healthy. So, first is the recipe for the cheddar fondue. I adapted this recipe from a recipe that I found online.
BEER-CHEDDAR FONDUE
(We will double this recipe whenever we use it. Doubled, it serves 8 or 9, comfortably, with just a tiny bit left over.)
* 1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
* 1/2 pound melty cheese, shredded. I use a yellow American cheese.
* 1 T flour
* 1 1/2 t dry mustard
* Dash of hot sauce
* 1 c beer
* 2 t Worcestershire sauce
In a bowl, combine cheeses with the flour and dry mustard. Toss cheese to coat. In the fondue pot (or, I do this in a saucepan over medium-low heat.. You have more control over the temperature when you start on the stovetop), combine the beer and the Worcestershire sauce, stirring to mix. Heat the beer/Worcestershire sauce until bubbly. Gradually add the cheese mixture and stir constantly until smooth. Add hot sauce to taste. Transfer to a fondue pot, if you chose to do this in your saucepan, and set to low heat (about 200 degrees). Serve with crusty bread, chicken pieces, little sausages, apples, broccoli, etc.
Here are a few helpful hints in making the fondue:
- I add the juice of one-half a lemon when I put the beer and Worcestershire sauce into the pot. This helps to keep the fondue from separating later. It doesn’t change the taste of the fondue at all.
- Make sure you coat the cheese with flour very thoroughly, because that also helps to reduce clumpiness.
- USE GOOD CHEESE. For the love of pete! Quality cheese makes a quality fondue. I use Boar’s Head sharp cheddar and yellow american. Quality ingredients really do make a difference.
- I rub the fondue pot with a smashed clove of garlic before transferring the fondue from the stove.
- We always use a good ale for the beer, and haven’t really tried experimenting with that to see how the taste of the fondue would change. We went with Blue Moon this time and were quite pleased with the outcome.
- I’ve also done this recipe and added a bit of cracked pepper and garlic powder, with good results, but we left them out last night and it was still delicious!
(cheese fondue! hungry husbands! strangely-colored afghans!)
And here, the END ALL, BE ALL of chocolate fondue recipes:
CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT CREAM FONDUE
(adapted slightly from a recipe posted over at epicurious. We use this recipe as written - not doubled - to serve 8 comfortably with some left over.)
1 15-oz can of sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez).
8 oz of bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 oz of semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 - 1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1 t coconut extract
Combine sweetened cream of coconut and all of the chocolate in a heavy saucepan. Stir constantly over VERY LOW HEAT until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in whipping cream (the original recipe calls for 1/4 cup, but I typically go up to 1/2 cup depending on how creamy I want it to be) and coconut extract. Transfer to fondue pot (on low or low-medium heat) and serve. We serve with assorted fruits (pinneapples, bananas and strawberries are especially good!), graham crackers, marshmellows, rice krispie treats, brownies, pound cake, etc. One of our friends brought peanut butter dessert wafers to try with it yesterday and those were also deeeeeelicious.
Tips:
- I can sometimes find sweetend cream of coconut in the drink mixers aisle of my grocery store (usually with the soft drinks), or at the liquor store. If it’s nowhere to be found, you can substitute a can of sweetened evaporated milk with extra coconut extract to taste. Add the extract altogether at the end, so you can control the amount of coconuttiness.
- USE QUALITY INGREDIENTS! This is generally a good rule of thumb, especially when dealing with chocolate. And don’t use chocolate chips, as they contain emulsifiers and are not very good at melting smoothly. We use Ghiradelli or Green and Black Organics.
- You can adjust the ratio of bittersweet to semisweet as your tastebuds prefer!
- This is even good for breakfast in the morning. The end.
love, celine
