Fondue A Deux: Fromage e Chocolat

I am proud to announce we have our first guest blogger! My fabulous roomie, Natalie, who has showed up in a number of our JAM foodie outings has been gracious enough to post about a recent fondue night we had with our other wonderful roommate, Jenny (She's my other favorite Jenny!). Natalie is also a member of the blog club, having recently started her own music related version where she reviews an ecclectic mix of artists and genres. Check it out at http://kerplunkinyourface.blogspot.com And without further ado, here's Natalie:

Enjoying fondue a deux!

Thanks to the popular rise of the Melting Pot chain, fondue parties are no longer trapped in the 1970s. After a delicious after-dinner get together there with some old high school friends, my roommates and I decided that we'd have to try making fondue on our own.

The accompaniaments to our cheese fondue

My parents have about 6 fondue pots, and luckily, a couple of them were electric. Fondue pots that use the Sterno "canned heat" cooking fuel just aren't as great. Not wanting to stray too far away from familiar tastes, Jenny looked up the actual restaurant recipes from the Melting Pot.

Here is the recipe for their famous cheddar cheese fondue:

1 ½ to 2 cups Sharp cheddar cheese1 ½ to 2 cups Emmanthaler cheese (can substitute w/something in the Swiss cheese family)

1/3 cup beer (PBR or bud light)

1 clove garlic (optional)

dash or two Worchestireshire sauce

1 tsp. Mustard powder

dash Cayenne pepper

adding the cheese

We paired the cheese fondue with carrots, celery, granny smith apples, and french bread cubes. The emmanthaler cheese really did cut the sharpness of the cheddar cheese, and it was not too rich (we later realized that our stomach aches were due to the fact that fondue parties should consist of more than 3 people).

Ta dah! Melty, cheesy goodness

We also tried a chocolate fondue, and we altered the recipe to include MORE chocolate:
24 oz semi-sweet chocolate baking chips

1 ½ cups light cream

1 tsp of vanilla

Jenny stirs up a pot of chocolate

We ended up forgetting to add the vanilla right away, but then vetoed it because the chocolate sauce was already to our liking. Strawberries, bananas, and Malia's delicious homemade brownies were the dippers for the chocolate fondue.

Strawberries, bananas and chocolate oh my!

I believe that our fondue night was a success! Malia and I have never been to the Melting Pot for dinner, but we would assume that we came close to its taste. It was also a lot cheaper! So if you're looking for something different to cook, and you have a bit of time to savor dinner, fondue parties are always going to be a winner in my book.

-Natalie (guest blogger...wooo!)

Heaven!