The Family Dish

The Best Cheese Fondue Recipe Ever

from simplyrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound Swiss-style cheese such as Jarlsberg or Emmenthaler, shredded
• 1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 garlic clove, halved crosswise
• 1 cup dry white wine (I substitute chicken broth)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Assorted dipping foods such as cubed baguette, warm lil' smokies, blanched broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, chopped green bell peppers, chopped apples or pears
•   

•  1 Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a plastic freezer bag. Seal, shake to coat the cheese with flour or cornstarch. Set aside.

  2 Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the cut garlic, then discard. Add the wine and lemon juice to the pot, and bring to a low simmer on medium heat. Bit by bit, slowly stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook just until the cheese is melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in kirsch, mustard and nutmeg.

  3 Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a low flame to keep warm. If your pot is thin-bottomed, a lit candle will probably do. If thick-bottomed, you can use a small Sterno.

  4 Arrange various dipping foods around the fondue pot. (A lazy Suzan works great for this.)

  To eat, spear dipping foods with fondue forks or small forks. Dip to coat with the cheese, and eat.

  Serves 4. 

Lettuce Wraps

3 T. peanut oil
4 tsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
1 cup water chestnuts, chopped
2 T. cilantro, chopped
2 T. green onions, chopped
2 T. lemongrass, minced
2 T. fish sauce
2 tsp. chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
16 large butter lettuce leaves, washed

Saute garlic and ginger in peanut oil for 1 minute.  Add ground turkey and saute for 4 minutes.  Add water chestnuts and saute 2 more mintes.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Serve warm or chillded.  To serve, place meat mixture in lettuce and wrap.  Serve with Thai dipping sauce (below).

Thai Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup simple syrup (1 cup sugar boiled with 1 cup water and cooled)
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp. rice vinegar
2 tsp. fish sauce
1 red Serrano chili - seeded and sliced
1 tsp. cilantro leaves.

Combine all ingredients.

**both the sauce and the mixture can be made ahead and frozen.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia filets

Preheat your oven's broiler.  Grease a broiling pan or line a pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice.  Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt.  Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan.  Broil a few inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes.  Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.  Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side.  Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.  Be careful not to overcook the fish.

Black Bean Burritos

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups rice, cooked
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup sliced oliveds
green onions, chopped
1 cup hot salsa
cumin
garlic salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix together all ingredients and roll in flour tortillas.  You can add cooked hamburger and cheese in burritos or put on top before baking about 20 minutes.

Favorite Pizzas

I don't really make my dough anymore because I can get cheap, fresh dough at Trader Joe's.  Sorry to all of you who can't enjoy this little gem of a store.  So someone else will have to post their favorite dough recipe.  We can, however, suggest our latest favorites in toppings:

BBQ Chicken

BBQ Sauce (again, a great one is Kansas City BBQ sauce from Trader Joe's)

Shredded Mozzarella

Cooked, cubed chicken

Shredded Gouda Cheese

Chopped Cilantro

red onions - optional

Prosciuitto and Pear

Olive oil

Mozzarella

Chopped Prosciutto

Thinly sliced pears

Gorgonzola (or other crumbled cheese)

Carmelized onions - optional

walnuts or other nuts - optional

White Sauce

This is from our friend who doesn't really use amounts, but you can make it according to your tastes.

Sauce:

Saute some garlic (3 cloves?) in 2-3TB of butter. Once that is slightly golden (not too brown or the garlic gets bitter) add some cream.  Maybe 1 cup/pizza.  Then add some parmesan (maybe 1/4 cup, or to taste), salt and pepper to taste and bring the sauce to a simmer.  For extra yumminess, add a dash of nutmeg and some crushed red pepper  Simmer on med-low, stirring, until it thickens.  

Topping ideas - Chicken, peppers, pears, ham, broccoli, artichoke hearts and spinach (not all together, though)

We just put the white sauce on the crust and topped it with peppers and it was scrumptious!

I usually use a pizza stone and paddle when making pizzas, but Matt and I attempted grilling them on our BBQ last week and it was great!  Check out this video for some tips on grilling them.

Main Dish (Other)