Fondue for the Fun of It

A few weeks ago (that seems to be a common theme with me lately) I decided we should have fondue for dinner on a random Saturday night- just for fun! Adam got me a lovely cast iron fondue set for Christmas and after a successful chocolate run on New Years, I wanted to do a main course in it.

Now the notion of cooking food in plain ol' oil kind of grosses me out. And I've heard it's messy and smokey. Um, no thanks! Instead I opted for a wine and broth combo. It was tasty- the dipping sauces I whipped up might have been the best part! We had fun cooking all the meats and veggies and having a slow dinner together.

We had shrimp, scallops, chicken, marinated beef, mushrooms, broccoli, red potatoes, and yellow squash for cooking. I also made the following dipping sauces: imitation Green Goddess (sour cream, garlic, fresh herbs), BBQ, Mustard (Dijon mustard, mayo, hot sauce), and Spicy Asian (mayo, creamed horseradish, soy sauce, rice vinegar, wasabi).






Broth and Wine Fondue

• 2-3 C. White Wine
  
• 1-2 C. Chicken or Beef Broth
  
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon (next time I think I'll eliminate this.)
  
• 4 Whole Cloves
  
• Black Pepper
  
• 2 Stalks of Green Onions, roughly chopped

1. In the fondue pot or in a sauce pot on the stove, bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
   
2. Use a fine colander to strain the dipping sauce. You can also fish out the cloves and green onions.
   
3. Transfer to the fondue pot and keep over medium flame.
   
4. Use the fondue forks to stab the meat and cook it. When in doubt if it's cooked enough, leave it in a little longer! You also want to remove the cooked foods from the fondue fork before eating- if you eat off the fondue fork you could get sick!