Fondues - An Excellent Way to Entertain

There are many different types of fondues. They include cheese, usually used for breads; chicken or beef broth for vegetables; wine-based fondues, oil fondues which are the most common and chocolate which is great for dessert with fruit or cakes.

Fondues are an excellent way of entertaining for a sit-down dinner in that most of the work can be done well before your guests arrive. It is also a very relaxed, informal way of bringing guests together who may not know each other well. And because of the relaxed atmosphere, you can be guaranteed that there will be many laughs.

When food slips off the fondue fork we threaten that whoever loses something in the pot has to sing. Of course, since we don’t want to sing, we never insist that others do either although occasionally a brave soul will venture forth with a short tune. Quite often one guest or more has never been to a fondue so conversation opens up on what kind of fondues others have attended. Fondues are an extremely enjoyable form of entertainment and will often take up most of the evening.

With a fondue meal I include baked potatoes, wrapped in foil and pre-cooked, a salad, and either garlic bread, buns, bread sticks or cubed French bread. The vegetables can be almost anything that will hold its shape in the oil or fondue of choice. We have had carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini, yams, and green, red and yellow peppers. A few vegetables like eggplant will get mushy and you will often lose it in the pot. (If you want to try eggplant, practice your singing).

The meat is usually a sirloin tip roast cut into bite-sized cubes. Other meat items that are good in a fondue are sausages, veal and chicken. Seafood is also very good if you use a batter for dipping to give it a tempura effect. The batter is great for the vegetables as well. Perogies and chicken nuggets are also excellent when cooked in a fondue.

There are many sauces that can be made but I usually purchase most of the sauces I use. These include: teriyaki, plum sauce, sweet ‘n’ sour, tartar sauce, horseradish sauce and honey mustard. Many of the purchased sauces will work and experimenting with others will depend on your own personal taste. I also make a garlic butter (crushed garlic added to softened margarine or butter – to personal taste). The garlic butter is excellent with the vegetables, baked potato and perogies. Also include sour cream and bacon bits for the perogies and baked potatoes.

The following is a recipe for a Wine Fondue for cooking chicken, rabbit or veal:

1 - 750 m bottle of white wine 1 tsp sugar
1 – 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick 1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp celery salt
10 black peppercorns, crushed 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
4 whole cloves

Pour wine into a saucepan, add rest of the ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. Then bring to a boil. Filter through a fine sieve or cheesecloth and transfer to the fondue pot. Bring to a boil before dipping bite-size pieces of raw meat into the boiling wine fondue. Remove meat when cooked.

Creamy Veggie Fondue (Cheese)

1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup white wine (thawed and drained)
1 – 8 oz pkg shredded Cheddar cheese 1 tsp ground dry mustard
1 – 8 oz pkg shredded Monterey Jack cheese 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 – 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup chopped green onions 1 tsp ground black pepper

Mix together milk, white wine, Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and cream cheese over medium heat, stirring often until melted (about 10 minutes). Stir in green onions, spinach, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and black pepper. Continue cooking until all ingredients are well blended (about 10 minutes).
Put into fondue pot and keep warm. Can also be used as a dipper for bread sticks or cubed French bread and raw vegetables.

Batter (for seafood or vegetables)

11/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 egg, well beaten

Mix flour and salt together. Add oil, egg and about 1 cup cold water. Will make a
thick batter of approximately 2 cups.

Chocolate Fondue

12 oz. Chocolate (light, dark or white) Dippers:
3/4 cup cream Apple wedges, sliced bananas
1 – 2 tbsp brandy Pound or angel food cake
Dippers Mandarin orange segments, Pineapple chunks, marshmallows

Melt chocolate and cream over low heat and stir until smooth. Add brandy. It’s ready for dipping.

Things to Remember When Having a Fondue:

- Never put the hot fondue fork into your mouth. Include standard utensils on the table for eating.
- Be careful of the hot oil when cooking and using the fondue pot.
- 3 – 4 people per fondue pot works best.
- Use color-coded fondue forks to avoid confusion.
- Ideally have two fondue forks for each person.
- Have mats under fondue pots to avoid oil splatters on table and tablecloth.
- Be especially careful of cooking fuels for pots that are not electric. (If any of the fuel spills onto the mat or tablecloth, there is a potential for a fire, as we once discovered).
- Have separate dishes for the uncooked food so the cooked food can go on your dinner plate.

Enjoy!