Every good NewYear's Eve party should have cheese fondue and plenty of veggies for dipping!
Have you ever had cheese fondue? If you're a big fan of gooey, melted cheese (who isn't?) you need to make this happen!
It's not that hard to put together and it's so much fun because it brings everyone together around one pot, so make sure you like who you invite to your party! But cheese fondue isn't just for parties, you can make this a dinner option and I bet the kids will love it.
There's no need for knives or forks and stabbing things and dipping them in cheese is something any kid would probably love to do!
Making the cheese fondue.
With only a few ingredients you'd think this would be stove to table in five minutes, actually, there's a fair bit of stirring involved but it's so worth it. It's important to add the cheese gradually and not add any more until the last batch has almost melted.
Making fondue takes patience and you might think things are taking too long but hang in there because the cheese will eventually melt and become thick and shiny. As soon as you take the cheese away from its heat source it'll begin to cool and become thicker.
You can bring it back to the original consistency by placing back on the heat and adding some more liquid such as cream or milk and whisking constantly.
What kind of cheese should I use?
Personally, I love to use strong flavor cheeses so Fontina, Gruyere and mature cheddars are all good choices. Fondue is a Swiss recipe so naturally, you'll see a lot of recipes using Swiss cheese but I think it lacks flavor.
It's really up to you, but just make sure the cheese you end up using is a good melting cheese, so stay away from any hard cheeses.
What should I use for the liquid?
Fondue usually calls for white wine to be mixed with the cheese, but since I had some hard apple cider in the fridge, I used that instead and it worked out perfectly. Make sure that you're using the alcoholic apple cider and not the apple juice kind.
What can I use for dipping in my cheese fondue?
This is the fun part of making fondue in my opinion. When all of the mixing is done, you're almost ready to eat! I recommend preparing all of your sides before you even start making the cheese fondue because once that fondue is ready, you'll want to serve it right away.
Be mindful that you're dipping things in thick heavy cheese so you need to use items that can stand up to that and not break or end up falling from the fondue fork right back into the cheese. Here's a list of my favorites.
- Fresh fruit such as apples, pear, and melon.
- Potatoes preferably the small baby whole potatoes. You can buy really good varieties that can be easily cooked in the microwave in a few minutes.
- No fondue would be complete without some really good crusty bread. Some of my favorites are sourdough, rye and anything heavy on seeds. Slice it into thick cubes and start dipping.
- Tofu, tempeh or veggie sausages.
- Vegetables like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower. I prefer to quickly blanch them in some hot water rather than eat them raw but don't cook them more than a few minutes. All of these can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.
- Mixed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. I'd keep the asparagus long and just dip them like that, instead of cutting them up.
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