As long as I have been alive, and well before that, every Christmas Eve my family holds a fondue party. Fondue is a Swiss invention where various foods are prepared in earthenware pots over a heat source and shared ~ usually using long, slender pointed forks to dip in various bits of food to the sauces. Cheese, chocolate, and oil based fondues are the most common.
It soon became tradition to receive a fondue pot once we reached adulthood and I still have my first fondue pot that is well in use all year round. My family has been going with the oil fondue party forever and a day. The fry meats, potatoes, mushrooms, cocktail onions. Upon reducing meat in my diet, and wanting a little variety, I offered to start making cheese fondue for our Christmas Eve fondue feast.
While certainly not my favorite, the champagne and cheese fondue is still very tasty and comes in handy this time of the year when champagne is overflowing. If you’re not a heavy champagne/sparkling wine drinker and/or you have found excess amounts in your fridge and don’t precisely know what to do with it, this recipe is a surefire way to entertain, feed and impress New Year guests.
Champagne fondue and all the fixin’s
Recipe adapted from The Fondue Cookbook
Champagne & Cheese Fondue:
1 c. mushroom caps
2 c. champagne
4 c. grated Swiss cheese (I used 3c Jarlsberg & 1c Gruyere)
2 TBS-1/4thc. all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cream (I used half and half)
salt & pepper to taste
Place mushroom caps in a pot with just enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Cook for five minutes. Drain – but reserve 1/4th of the water. Slice the caps very thinly, set aside.
Heat champagne slowly in the fondue pot over the stove. Stir in the cheese, melt and sprinkle the flour in slowly to use as a thickening agent. You may need more/less than called for. Stir constantly until completely melted & smooth.
Combine egg yolk, cream, reserved liquid and sliced mushrooms caps and stir into the fondue. Do not bring to a boil!
Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Transfer mixture to the table & burner.
Three-Cheese & Champagne Fondue: adapted from Bon Appetit
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups dry (brut) Champagne
1 large shallot, chopped
2 cups coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (about 7 oz)
1 1/3 cups coarsely grated Emmenthal cheese (about 5 oz)
1/2 cup diced rindless Brie or Camembert cheese (about 3 oz)
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground white pepper
Stir cornstarch and lemon juice in small bowl until cornstarch dissolves; set aside
Combine champagne and shallot in fondue pot and simmer over medium heat (about 2 minutes) Remove pot from heat
Add all cheeses and stir to incorporate, then stir in cornstarch mixture
Return fondue pot to medium heat, stir until melted and smooth and fondue thickens and slightly boils (about 12 minutes)
Season fondue with nutmeg and white pepper
Place over heat source to keep warm, serve with dippers and enjoy!
Dippers: French bread, medium cooked shrimp, cooked asparagus tips, raw broccolini, cucumber, small cooked potatoes, baby carrots, salami, mushrooms.
NOTES:
- Both of these fondue recipes are generous enough for 4-6 people. I made both of these recipes for Christmas Eve when we had 7-8 people but we had two other fondues going at the same time.
- My fondue pot cannot go on the stove so I typically bring the mixture together in a stove pot and transfer it to my fondue pot
- The melting/thickening of the cheese is always the trickiest part. Always keep an eye on it and use your judgment when it comes to thickening techniques.
- If you have a food processor, use it to shred all cheeses. Brie may have to be chopped by hand.
