Jalapeno Jack Fondue and a Giveaway

We’re on Day 3 of our entertaining theme for this week and the next party recipe comes from Great Party Fondues, a new cookbook from Peggy Fallon. This very adult dip is made with jalapeno jack cheese, beer, and tequila, and is a mouthful of flavor. Serve it in a fondue pot or a miniature Crock Pot, and offer tortilla chips, pita chips, celery, and pepper strips as dunkers.

Making a good cheese fondue requires some attention to detail. The cheese should be at room temperature before adding to the hot liquid, and stirring should be kept to a minimum, otherwise the sauce will be stringy. In addition, cheese sauces have a tendency to separate, leaving you with lumpy cheese in a soupy liquid. In her book Cookwise, Shirley Corriher gives a few tips on working with a cheese sauce. Read more

Spiked Orange Cranberry Fondue

For something seasonal, skip the chocolate fountain and serve a colorful fruit fondue for your New Years Eve party. This spiked fondue lends some beautiful color to a New Years Eve buffet and and is an easy and fun dessert. For dippers, set out apple wedges, dried pineapple slices, panettone or fruit cake chunks, or madeleines.

Other Fondue Recipes for New Years Eve

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Fondue

We love dipping foods, whether it’s chocolate fondue or chips and salsa, because it’s just more fun that way. And what is more fun and romantic than dipping luscious strawberries into thick, rich, hot chocolate? Not many things I can think of!

This recipe from Gale Gand is reminiscent of Mexican style hot chocolate, flavored with vanilla bean, coffee, and canela, the Ceylon type of cinnamon with a looser bark and citrus overtones. The base is heavy cream and whole milk stirred with bittersweet chocolate, but it’s not dark due to the presence of 2-1/2 cups of dairy. I took it very slowly, stirring the mixture while waiting for it to come to a boil, them reduced the heat and simmered for just a few minutes while it thickened. When it was ready, we dipped strawberries, banana slices, and…animal crackers. Yes, we borrowed from the kids’ stash! It was a little whimsical and a cute way to remind us that we are indeed, parents. It’s also good with homemade marshmallows, and I’ve posted links to some good marshmallow recipes at the end.

Chocolate fondue requires low heat so that the chocolate doesn’t burn, and it works best in ceramic containers set over a tea light. A basic pot set costs around $20 with the pot, stand, and some forks, though I lucked out last year and found a nice chocolate fondue set for two for just $6 at Ross after Valentine’s Day, so be on the look out for bargains.

The recipe makes enough to serve four people, so cut it in half if you are making this for a romantic dessert for two. Read more

Chicken Pesto Fondue

Fondue is a tradition in our family that goes back to the year Michael and I started dating. He surprised me at Christmas that first year with a gift of two fondue pots which we christened on New Year’s Eve with cheese and bourguignonne (oil) fondues, so now we celebrate every New Year’s Eve by staying home and making fondue for just the two of us. This year our celebration was off by a few days because we were out of town, but we still managed to put the boys to bed early and enjoy a quiet evening together. We make fondue at other times of the year, too, but it’s particularly special for us as a way to ring in the New Year. Fondue for two…how romantic is that?

We decided that the old pots had seen plenty of action (they were burned out in the bottom), so for Christmas we got two new electric fondue pots, which we think work great. In recent years we’ve moved away from oil fondues and now we make broth fondues, which are very easy and healthy. We marinate some meat, make a couple dipping sauces, add herbs and seasonings to a vegetable or chicken stock, and we’re ready to fondue! Read more