Meal Assembly Recipes

Instead of leaving the kids at home and heading out for a $100 evening, we decided to stay home and put together that same dinner for less than $30 and everyone got to enjoy it. For Valentine’s Day we decided to bring out the fondue pot and create our own little feast. It actually turned out exceptionally well with all of us sitting around the table talking and eating for nearly two hours. That alone was worth every penny.

I have a fondue pot which uses Sterno cans to keep it hot. This actually works quite well overall, but I wanted to get the main broth as hot as possible and give it time to simmer. With that in mind I put the broth on the stove while we enjoyed the choose dip.

Beef Broth:

To make the main fondue broth, combine the following in a saucepan:

1 ½ cups red wine (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy, etc). Brand and vintage aren’t important.
1 cup of water
1 packet French Onion soup mix
1 beef bouillon cube

Bring to a boil and then let simmer until you’re ready for it.

The cheese mixture is just as simple but very tasty. I did this in the fondue pot itself since it probably wouldn’t pour very well and the cheese only takes a few minutes to melt. The actual quantities will vary slightly depending on how many people you have. But here is the base.

Cheese Dip:

In the fondue pot combine the following:

4-8oz of beer (I used Corona)
1 – 1 ½ cups of shredded of cheese – 4 cheese Mexican blend
1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

Pour in some of the beer and stir in the cheese. Keep adding cheese and beer to the desired amount and consistency. It should be smooth and creamy. It should be thin enough to coat the bread when dipped.

For the bread I actually made a loaf of French bread in my bread machine. This works out well because the bread is dense so it holds up well on the skewer and the crust is excellent for dipping on its own. You have to plan ahead though as French bread takes 4 hours from start to finish.

Once the bread it ready simply cut off the crust and cut the inner portion into 1 inch cubes. Don’t toss the crust, it’s great for dipping on its own.

To have a good time with fondue you really only need a couple of things, the broth, a cheese dip, a thick bread and of course your main course ingredients. The main course can be anything you want. I chose chicken breasts, steak strips, salmon filet, russet potato wedges, large whole mushrooms, and broccoli florets. Cut everything into cubes and place them on a platter. Everyone can then take what they like as needed. For the dipping sauces you can use whatever comes to mind. Ranch, honey mustard, bbq sauce, lemon pepper, Louisiana Red Pepper sauce, etc all work very well, are readily available and don’t cost much.

For the main course I cut up the following:

2 8oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 4-6oz salmon filets
2 4-6oz steak strips (pretty much any cut will do)
1 head of fresh broccoli florets
Several large mushrooms
2-3 medium russet potatoes cut into cubes

French Bread Loaf:

2 pound loaf:

1 and 1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons margarine or butter
4 cups bread flour
5 teaspoons sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoons yeast

And there you have, a very inexpensive way for the whole family to enjoy Valentine’s Day and spend some real quality time with each other. This is a very simple recipe but it’s a great place to get started and it tastes very good. I’m looking forward to the next time we try this one out.

If you have a fondue recipe you would like to share please leave a comment, I would love to hear about it.