Fondue!

[cjsmith]

I made fondue yesterday for about fifteen people. Man, it's hard for me to avoid overeating when it's FONDUE!!

The challenges:

The only available sources of energy were one propane grill nearby and two electrical outlets about thirty feet from the cooking area (sixty feet from each other). I already knew from experience that the grill was Not Easy.

I had no idea how many people would show up, except that the number would be between roughly six and thirty.

I learned a few things:

Electric fondue pots can pop breakers verrrry easily. Especially if you have three of them.

I need some work on chocolate fondue. This was my first attempt, and it was always either way too stiff or starting to become coal on the bottom. I wonder if it needed more cream. (I used two pounds of 72% dark and a half pint of heavy cream.)

It is perfectly okay to cut fondue-cheese up into little cubes instead of grating it. This will be MUCH EASIER on my wrists in future!

I may enjoy white wine paired with wine-based cheese fondue, but red wine goes a lot better with chocolate.

Yay fondue!

Comments

I'm in town

[tytso.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm not sure I sent mail to the right e-mail address that you're reading (I used the cjsmith.org address), but I'm in the Bay Area today, and if you're free for lunch or dinner, that would be cool!

Re: I'm in town

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

YES! EITHER ONE!! Lemme see if I have your cell number...

[hanov3r.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it needed more cream. (I used two pounds of 72% dark and a half pint of heavy cream.)

The recipes I'm seeing work out to about a cup or so of cream per pound of chocolate, so you could probably double your cream proportion without screwing it up.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks!! The one recipe I found on the web was something like a quarter cup of cream per pound of chocolate, so I was very tentative with the cream. Maybe if I'd started with milk chocolate -- but I didn't. Thanks for the tip!

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

If I'm ever out your way, I'll be counting on a FONDUE invite! ;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Extra likely if Rob is out of town. The smell of melted cheese can drive him out of the house. Hmmmm, you coming to Push Open the Golden Gate next fall?

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

It's certainly on our list of events!

I'd leave Danny out of it of course, since he'd literally die with a tast a cheese. But I'd be in cheese and choco heaven!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

We probably won't have a room (I don't know if Rob's bouncing back and forth so much that he'd want one) but you probably will, right? So if either you or I think about this close to the event time, I can pack up some supplies and do a lunch-on-the-balcony type thing.

He'd DIE if he ate cheese? Whoa. Would he enjoy the chocolate, or is the addition of cream to it a no-go? What else would he like?

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

I usually add some vanilla extract to chocolate fondue. I hear cherry liqueur is also recommended. (Not that that'd be enough to liquefy it further, but if you're looking for other ways to modify it -- add booze!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I looked for Grand Marnier but it's the one thing our office doesn't already have a bottle of! Booooo! (We are such drinkers. It's a little scary.) Next time I'll definitely add some booze. :-)

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Can I come to work with you?

Chambord and dark chocolate. Yesssss.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Too bad the booze really can't make up for the all-nighters and the pressure. I've spent several weeks pretty sick from it and there's another guy we haven't seen for a couple of months due to stress-related illness. I wish I were making this up...

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Yay CJ! I'm glad your fondue event went well.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was very lucky in that I had a big pile of help. I was grocery- and appliance-shopping until nearly eleven, and if I'd had to chop everything myself and set it all up singlehandedly I should have started at maybe two. :-)

I, too, am fond of fondue

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

Once a year or so when we don't want to deal with the mess, we go to The Melting Pot (http://www.meltingpot.com/).

Otherwise, it has been far too long since we dusted off our fondue pot. A year or so, IIRC... Hmmm... and it's just getting to that chilly time of year when friends should get together...

Re: I, too, am fond of fondue

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, yes, I love The Melting Pot. That's handy for the times when you want a lot of variety in the stuff to dip, but don't want to purchase the smallest unit of everything -- or when you just don't want to scrape cheese off a bunch of forks later on!

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

I'd probably OD on fondue very fast, but I'd love to try yours sometime :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I would be delighted to make some for you!