08 March 2008

Cheddar Beer Fondue

The Melting Pot is one of my favorite places to go eat, primarily because of their wonderful cheese fondue, but it is also a ridiculously expensive place to eat. So, when I started craving cheese fondue this week, I decided to look into doing it myself.

My criteria were simple. I didn't want to use "weird" cheese like Gruyere. Considering my favorite cheese of ALL TIME is any kind of extra sharp cheddar cheese (Tillamook makes a wonderful extra sharp cheddar), I googled hard for a good cheddar fondue recipe.

I was ecstatic when I found this recipe for Cheddar Beer Fondue, since that meant I didn't have to go out and buy wine either, since most of the recipes I was finding that used gruyere also used dry white wine.


Taste: A+++!

Ease: A


This recipe is posted several places, but I found it on Gourmet Sleuth.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
Dash cayenne
1 bottle (12 oz.) beer of choice
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
1 Baguette, cubed; each cube with crust

Instructions
In saucepan, melt butter; blend in flour, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and cayenne. Gradually stir in beer; stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat; add cheese, stir until melted. Transfer to fondue pot; place over low heat. Serve with bread cubes; use long handled fondue forks.


You might notice that this recipe as it reads on gourmet sleuth does not include cayenne, but their "cheddar beer fondue II" does. So why not combine? I also changed it up from 3 cups to a simple 8oz of cheese. I used a Lager (as the original recipe suggests), but you can use different beers for different tastes.

Also, and I must place this in high emphasis, you DO NOT NEED A FONDUE POT! I cooked my fondue up in a 10 inch skillet and transferred over to a warmed pot of water with a double-boiler insert just to keep it warm. You could just as easily do this in a large pot and forget about the double boiler-- it just might not keep warm as long.






The players. I never used the second block of cheese.





Le pain.





After beer, but before the cheese.





All done!





The presentation. I served with crusty cubed bread, apples, and broccoli. The two of us ate it as dinner, but this would also serve well as a party dish (as long as you had a good way of keeping it warm).

I was impressed at the ease of this recipe. I had never made any kind of fondue before, and to be quite honest I was concerned about attempting this. It had always seemed, to me, that there was some secret or that it was harder than it looked...

Absolutely, I would make this exact recipe again for dinner or a party!

Time to find a recipe that doesn't include beer....!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home