Cheese Fondue

Tami requested my recipe for fondue, so here it is.

This recipe is my take on the Melting Pot's Wisconsin Trio fondue. The Melting Pot is probably my favorite restaurant and we only eat there on special occasions. On Valentine's Day it is always crowded at restaurants, so it is much easier for us to stay in and cook a nice dinner and not have to deal with the crowds. Plus we don't have to tip anyone!!

When picking out the cheeses for the fondue, I go to New Season's (kind of like a Whole Foods) and get recommendations from the cheese monger. They are always so helpful and know what cheeses go good together. I actually saved the labels from last year's cheeses so I could recreate the yummy fondue we had, however one of them had raw cow's milk and I was advised to only eat pasturized cheeses during pregnancy. Tonight we went to get the cheese from NS and no one was around the cheese case so we picked out some cheeses that sounded good to us.

Ingredients:

1 Shallot

Kirschwasser (I suppose you could also use a white wine)

3 cheeses-

a buttery melting cheese (Last year we used a Raclette from France - I highly recommend it! This year we are using a Mahon from Spain and a Queso Barra from Spain)

a domestic Fontina (Fontina in a red wax)

a bleu cheese (Bleu D'Auvergne from France)

In a sauce pan I saute up the shallot in a small bit of oil. When it looks cooked I pour in the Kirschwasser. I don't actually measure the alcohol, I probably use around 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup. I let the alcohol cook off. Then I add in the buttery cheese (grated) and fontina (grated). I stir until they are completely melted. I transfer this to my fondue pot. Then I add in the bleu cheese crumbles.

Dippables - I like to have a rye bread from Panera, but a baguette would be good too. We like a granny smith apple and a D'anjou Pear. Then I steam up some thin asparagus. Carrots and celery are a good dipper, but not quite as special so I don't use them.

There you go!! Have a Happy Valentine's Day!