Fondue Night

A few Christmases ago, I gave Noah an electric fondue pot. We used to make cheese fondue all.the.time, but I think we kind of forgot about it for awhile. We made some Saturday night, and man-oh-man, it was just as delicious as I'd remembered.

I thought I'd share the recipe with you, in case you want to recreate some of this magic. It's called Cheddar, Onion, Apple & Hard Cider Fondue, and I found it in the Cuisinart booklet that came with our fondue pot. We halved the recipe (it serves 8) & used regular cider instead of hard cider.

1-1/2 pounds shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

2-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 ounce chopped shallot

1/2 cup finely diced tart apple

2-1/2 cups hard cider

cubes of crusty bread

apple wedges (toss in lemon juice to prevent from turning brown)

Place the shredded cheese in a large bowl and sprinkle with the cornstarch and dry mustard; toss to coat.

Heat the butter in the pot using setting 3-1/2. Cook the shallot and apple in the butter until tender & golden, and 3-4 minutes. Add 2 cups of the hard cider and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to setting 3-4, and with the cider simmering, gradually add the shredded cheese, a handful at a time, while whisking with a plastic or coated whisk. If mixture seems too thick, whisk more of the reserved cider as needed. To serve, keep the temperature set at setting 3.

Serve with crusty bread & wedges of tart apple.  

(We also served ours with steamed veggies.)

Enjoy!