Gather together around a nice warm...pot of cheese?

It's finally getting colder out, and we all need that extra little layer of fat to keep us warm. Right? This year for Thanksgiving our family forewent the traditional meal and dug into a nice big bowl of cheese fondue, followed by chocolate fondue for dessert. What a treat, and so much easier than I imagined. Here are the recipes I used to great success.

CHEESE FONDUE

Ingredients

8 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (2 cups), room temperature

8 ounces Emmentaler cheese, shredded (2 cups), room temperature* 2 tablespoons cornstarch Pinch ground nutmeg 1 ½ cups dry white wine** 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved ¼ teaspoon pepper

*Don’t substitute deli Swiss cheese for the Emmentaler—it will make the fondue stringy. Use good quality cheese for both; it's the main ingredient!

**Use a crisp, un-oaked wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc.

Instructions

1. Toss Emmentaler, Gruyère, cornstarch, and nutmeg together in bowl until well combined. Rub the inside of a medium saucepan with the garlic (I used my Le Creuset pan which retains heat well). Bring wine and garlic to boil over high heat; discard garlic.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowly whisk in cheese mixture 1 handful at a time (I found that doing it slowly really mattered). Continue to cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth and begins to bubble, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in pepper. Place in the middle of the table and devour.

What we dipped: Baguette, cut into 1-inch pieces

Lightly steamed broccoli and/or cauliflower, in bite sized pieces

Pieces of crisp apple

Rounds of summer sausage

Small boiled potatoes (the multi-colored ones are fun)

If you need to reheat the fondue, fill a microwaveable bowl one-third full of boiling water, then nest a slightly smaller microwaveable bowl inside it. Pour the fondue into the smaller bowl and serve. To reheat, microwave the double-bowl setup for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring halfway.

CHOCOLATE FONDUE

Ingredients

12 ounces high-quality chocolate, chopped 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream Pinch salt 1 tablespoon corn syrup

What we dipped:

Pound cake, cut into 1-inch cubes Marshmallows Bananas, cut into 1-inch-thick rounds Fresh pineapple, quartered, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks Strawberries, hulled

An embarrassing number of different kinds of cookies

Things I wish I had thought to dip:

Chunks of brownie

Clementines, peeled and segmented

Instructions

1. Prepare the accompaniments and set them aside.

2. Bring the cream and salt almost to a boil in a medium saucepan. Lower the heat and add the chocolate, stirring well until smooth, then add the corn syrup and whisk to incorporate. Serve immediately.

This reheated beautifully the next day in the microwave. I used the defrost setting so it wasn't too high.

So gather some friends and family, or just make yourself a pot and binge-watch Netflix. We're not judging.

#holidays #cheese #chocolate #fondue #family #gathering