Non Alcoholic Cheese Fondue

1 pound Swiss* cheese
2 cloves of Garlic
3 T. All-Purpose Flour
2 T. Butter
1 1/2 cups Milk
½ T. Lemon Juice
1/8 tsp. ground Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

*You can mix Swiss and Gruyere for a stronger taste. Some people prefer Cheddar.

Dippers – Italian or French Bread cut into about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch pieces is a must! We also like thin sausage cut into bite sized pieces. If you’d like you can serve slices of apple on the side.

Peel garlic and slice the cloves in half the long way so the most inner surface is showing. Rub a heavy saucepan with two halves of the garlic for flavoring. Rub the fondue pot with the other two garlic halves.

Grate the cheese and mix with 1 T. of the flour.

Melt the butter in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add rest of flour. Stir well till smooth. Add about ½ cup of milk and stir till smooth. Slowly add the rest of the milk, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of light cream. Add a handful of cheese and keep stirring. Let the cheese melt and then add another handful and stir until it melts. Repeat the process until all the cheese is melted.

Once all the cheese has been added and the mixture is smooth, you can stir in the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Finally, add the lemon juice. Stir well till the mixture is smooth once again.

Light the sterno and add cheese mixture to the fondue pot. Eat immediately! Spear bread and dunk in fondue and enjoy. Scrape the bottom of the pot with whatever you’re dipping from time to time to keep it from burning.

Bon Appétit!

Lisa

The year our son was five, it was the eve of the year 2000, and we just had to keep him up for the event. Since then he’s become part of the celebration and so has our four year old daughter. (We make a separate, non alcoholic fondue pot for the kids. It’s delicious too!) We also added going outside at midnight and banging pots and pans, which is the highlight of our son’s night!

Here’s the recipe we like. You can add the brandy or leave it out depending upon your personal preference. It’s excellent either way. We like to dunk 1 ½ inch cubes of Italian bread and 1 inch pieces of thin sausage. The combination is great together!

Cheese Fondue

1 pound mixture of Swiss Cheese (I prefer a mixture of Gruyere and Swiss)
1 cup White Wine (I use Chablis)
1 T. Lemon Juice
2 cloves Garlic
1 ½ T. Flour
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
3 T. Brandy or Kirsch (optional)

Slice the cloves of garlic in half the long way so the most inner surface is showing. Rub a heavy saucepan with two halves of the garlic for flavoring. Rub the fondue pot with the other two garlic halves.

Grate the cheese and mix with the flour.

Place the wine and the lemon juice in the saucepan over a low heat. Once bubbles start rising to the surface, add a handful of cheese. At this point you can raise the heat to medium. Stir constantly. If the mixture starts boiling, lower the flame.

Once the cheese melts, you can add another handful and so on until all the cheese has been added and is melted.

Add a dash of salt and 2 dashes each of pepper and nutmeg. Mix well. Stir in brandy or kirsch.

Quickly pour mixture into fondue pot and place over Sterno. Eat immediately! Spear bread or sausage with fondue fork, occasionally scraping bottom of pan with bread to keep the bottom from burning. If the cheese starts bubbling, lower flame.

Just beware! If you’re adding the brandy it can go to your head! Over the years, a couple of our guests have passed out on our couch from this meal. But maybe that was when we were younger and added more brandy to our cheese fondue than we do nowadays!

Bon Appétit!

Lisa