Fondues for Fun and Variety!
Fondues are ideal for a cozy evening with friends. The fondue pot is set in the middle of the table and everyone cooks their own food so there's no rushing for fear that the food will get cold. Cap an afternoon at the movies or on the slopes with a fondue for a truly relaxing weekend.
There are many kinds of fondue: beef, seafood or cheese
(sometimes called Welsh rabbit) and Chinese fondue (also known as
Mongolian hot pot). While the guests enjoy drinks and
hors-d'oeuvres, the host can prepare the ingredients for the
fondue.
Most fondue pots are made of stainless steel or enamelware. Although pricey, cast iron pots ensure even heat distribution and are an excellent choice. If you enjoy fondues and want to have them often, invest in a good pot.
- Make sure that the fondue stand is stable. Wobbly or badly adjusted handles are dangerous.
- Look for a pot with a magnetic ring to keep the long two-pronged forks in place.
- Limit the number of people using the same pot to six.
- Set up the fondue pot and burner on a cork mat to prevent heat damage to the table.
- Convertible fondue burners take both liquid fuel (methanal sold in bottles) and jellied fuel (sold in cans). Small candles in aluminum holders are used for chocolate fondue.
- Use a deep copper or stainless steel fondue pot for beef and Chinese fondues, a wide and shallow pot for cheese fondue and a small stoneware pot for chocolate fondue.
Cubes
of raw tender beef are speared with fondue forks and cooked in a
pot of oil kept at a slow boil. Handle the pot of hot oil with
care. Avoid sudden or quick moves that could cause the oil to
spill. Keep paper napkins, table decorations and anything flammable
away from the burner. Add a piece of bread or half a peeled potato
to the oil to keep it from spattering.
Beef fondues, which were the in thing during the 80s, are served with a variety of sauces and raw vegetables. A platter of French fries or boiled potatoes makes an excellent accompaniment. A fondue's quality hinges on the oil (good peanut oil that is never reused), the cut (tenderloin or rib eye) and amount of beef (1/3 to 1/2 lb. or 150 to 225 g per person), and the selection of sauces and chutneys, where the host can show off his culinary skills and creativity.
Sauces
Various flavourings such as capers or curry powder can turn homemade or store-bought mayonnaise into many different sauces. Stir 2 Tbsp. (30 mL) of ketchup and 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) of vodka into the mayonnaise to make pink sauce. Add fresh, chopped parsley, tarragon and basil to the mayonnaise for green sauce, Dijon mustard for Dijonnaise sauce or ketchup for red sauce. Your Metro supermarket offers a wide selection of sauces.
Set out several bowls of olives, gherkins, pickled onions, vegetables and ramekins of various sauces and vegetable or fruit chutneys to avoid having to pass them back and forth constantly.
Round out the meal with a tossed salad and a bottle of red
Chinon or Languedoc Roussillon.
This is the seafood lovers' fondue. The hot oil is replaced with fish stock in which pieces of firm-fleshed fish and seafood are gently poached. Rice, mayonnaise sauce or aïoli, a garlic mayonnaise, and a chilled, fruity white wine.
This easy, invigorating fondue allows
the hostess to enjoy the evening with her guests. Guests, who each
have a plate, a soup bowl and a small bowl for the sauce, choose
and cook the ingredients they want in the hot pot.
Broth
Broth, either chicken or beef, is used instead of oil. Chinese fondue broth is sold in stores, but it's best to make your own if you or your guests are allergic to MSG. Rub the pot with a garlic clove and a piece of fresh ginger, fill it with water, and heat. Add beef or chicken bouillon cubes to the boiling water along with thyme and bay leaves.
Beef
This fondue uses thinly sliced, rather than cubed, beef tenderloin or sirloin. Some people like to wrap the strips of beef around cubes of mozzarella or another cheese and cook them together in the broth. If you enjoy Chinese fondue often and have a meat-cutting machine, buy whole round when it's on special at your Metro store. Slice the eye of round and other choice parts for winter fondues and freeze them in airtight freezer bags for future use. The remaining meat is perfect for stews. The frozen food department carries sliced beef for Chinese fondues.
Other Foods
Please the palate and whet the appetite with other foods: thin slices of boneless chicken breast, strips of pork tenderloin, fresh shrimp, scallops and vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, etc.).
Royale Sauce
To make royale sauce, mix equal quantities of ketchup, sunflower oil, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and soya sauce together. Pour into a big bowl or small individual bowls.
Soup
When everyone has enjoyed their fill of meat, seafood and vegetables, add sliced Chinese cabbage or trimmed spinach and three lightly beaten eggs. Cook for 1-2 minutes and pour into soup bowls for a satisfying finish.
Sake, either hot or cold, and basmati rice make excellent
accompaniments.
Cheese fondue is a mixture of various melted cheeses and white
wine kept nice and hot in a stoneware pot over a bur
ner.
Guests dip pieces of bread into the pot. The recipe for cheese
fondue is so easy that buying a packaged mix usually doesn't make
sense. But if you're strapped for time, some packaged mixes offer
good quality for the price. You can always give them a personal
touch by adding a little cubed cheese.
If you're making cheese fondue from scratch, the best choices are baked or interior-ripened cheeses. Use Comté and Beaufort d'alpage for a Savoy-style fondue or Emmental, Gruyère and vacherin for a Swiss-style fondue. Experiment with less traditional cheeses like Gouda and Cantal. Better yet, make a Quebec-style fondue with Emmental from the abbey of St-Benoit and Fritz Kaiser Miranda or Migneron de Charlevoix and sharp Perron cheddar with La Maudite beer.
Remove rinds and cut cheeses into thin strips. Do not grate the cheese or it will melt too quickly and clump together. After rubbing the inside with garlic, put the fondue pot on the stove. Pour in the white wine (or beer) over low heat and gradually add the cheese, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
Bring the pot to the table and keep it warm over the lit burner during the meal. Unless the fondue is made with beer, it can be flavoured with 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) kirsch, some grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Serve with baskets of crusty bread cut into bite-size pieces,
some dried fruits, nuts and grapes. Add a plate of country ham if
people are famished. Accompany with a chilled white wine such as a
Savoie or Côtes du Jura, unless you prefer a Fendant du
Valais.
The one children love best, although
many adults are also tempted by its charms... after a light meal.
Melt pure, premium quality chocolate (milk chocolate, white
chocolate or with hazelnuts, like the giant Tobleronne bars). Thin
the melted chocolate with some cream and dip bite-size pieces of
fruit (banana, apple, pear, pineapple, kiwi and whole strawberries)
into it along with cubed pound cake.