Mother’s Day Cheese Fondue

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good Cheese Fondue. As it was mother’s day last week I decided that it would be a good occasion to dust off the old Fondue set and help our daughter cook something special for her Mum. Ok, so our daughter is only two so it was mostly me doing the cooking but hey, it’s the thought that counts.

Ingredients

200g of Swiss cheese
150g other melting cheese*
1 garlic clove
1 French shallot
1 tbsp dried mushrooms
Sparkling wine
1 shot glass of Brandy
10g of butter
Salt and white pepper
Ground Nutmeg
1 Loaf of bread, Homemade works well here
1 Medium to Large potato per person
4 Thin slices of cured ham per person

* Select any cheese that suits your taste and is known to melt well. Beaufort, Emmental or Comte will all work well here.

Directions

Score the potatoes using a knife and then put them on to boil while you prepare the rest of the fondue. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes.

While the potatoes are boiling rehydrate the dried mushrooms by putting them in a bowl and covering them with boiling water and allowing them to stand for about 15 minutes.

While the mushrooms are rehydrating, finely chop the clove of garlic, finely chop the shallot, grate your cheese and cut the bread into one inch cubes.

Once rehydrated, squeeze the mushrooms between your hands to remove any excess water before chopping them finely as well. After doing this you can discard the water used to rehydrate the mushrooms.

Once the potatoes are cooked through, remove them from the water and cut them into rough inch thick pieces.

Using the Fondue dish on a low heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic, mushrooms and shallots. Cook until the shallot has softened.

Add the grated cheese to the fondue dish and then pour in the sparkling wine so it fills the dish to just below the surface of the cheese.

Stir over low heat until the cheese has melted and is very soft. Then add a little pepper, nutmeg and the Brandy and stir the mixture around. The fondue is now ready to serve.

Note: The Fondue mixture will not be consistent when it is ready to eat. The idea is that the cheese sits at the bottom of the dish covered with a sauce that will readily soak into the bread as it is dipped into it.

To serve, light the burner in the base of your Fondue set and transfer the Fondue dish to it. The Bread, Potatoes and Meat should be put into serving bowls on the table for everyone to help themselves.

Using one of the forks from your set, take a piece of bread and dip it into the Fondue. It should come out soaked in the sauce, covered in cheese and tasting unbelievable. The meat and potato should be treated exactly the same way, they too will benefit from a coating of cheese.