Last night was a yummy fondue night, and I figured it was time to share a recipe.

My mother in law is French Canadian, which means cheese fondue is a comfort food meal for my husband.  That’s in stark contrast to my typical Midwestern experience with fondue, which was a single trip to a Melting Pot restaurant sometime in the 80’s.  However, I now love fondue as much as I love the other wonderful foods my husband and his family have introduced me to:  smoked meat, poutine, tourtiere….I could go on and on, but those are recipes that deserve their own posts.

Back to fondue.  You don’t REALLY need a fondue pot, or fondue forks.  If you have a fondue set, by all means dig it out, dust it off and use it.  If you don’t, grab yourself a medium sized pot and some forks.  To be fair, you can likely find ready made fondue in your local grocery store (deli section, or gourmet food section).  It’s in a box, and it’s perfectly good.  However, for about the same price, you can make much better fondue from scratch and have more fun doing it.

It’s easy and it’s yummy. It’s not necessarily figure friendly, so while my husband probably had cheese fondue as a meal several times a month growing up, it’s now a treat we indulge in every couple of months.

Ingredients:

1 c. white wine (don’t over think this; just use any white wine you like, and enjoy the rest of the bottle with dinner)

8 oz. shredded swiss cheese

8 oz. shredded gruyere cheese

2 TBSP. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (go crazy, get some fresh nutmeg and run it across your grater)

Big loaf of freshly baked French bread, cut into bite size cubes

Simmer the wine in the pot.  Add cheese one handful at a time, and stir to melt.  A whisk is best.  After all the cheese has been incorporated and melted, sprinkle in the flour and continue to stir until smooth.  Stir in the salt and nutmeg.

Grab your bread and dig in! Of course, you can dip anything you want:  apples, pears, vegetables, and of course crusty bread.  Experiment and ENJOY!