Mountain Fondue

One of my fondest memories from college was an evening with my cousin Hannah, who lives in the French Alps. One night she came home from work with a literal mountain of local cheese to make fondue. After her kids had gone to bed, we stayed up eating fondue, drinking wine and talking til pretty late. Before then, I hadn't really developed a taste for swiss cheese. I'd thought it too... sour. Not creamy enough- I was a triple cream kind of girl. But that evening marked my conversion to the dark arts of melted cheese.

Fondue is easy. And really really really good when it's cold out. It's been cold here at the cabin- barely above 0 most of the day. Even though I don't have access to a mountain of handmade local cheese, I made perfectly tasty fondue with the stuff at Fred Meyers. It's actually more cost effective to buy the cheese at Costco, but then you have So. Much. Cheese. Which requires more fondue than I'll allow myself to eat.

A note: This fondue isn't super gooey- you won't be twirling strings a cheese around your bread, because I like to taste the tartness of the the wine. If you want gooey, just reduce the wine to 1/2 bottle.

Mountain Fondue
       Serves 4, or 2 with leftovers
 
1 1/2 pounds of swiss cheese. I use three: Emmenthaler, Appenzeller and Gruyere
2 Tbs flour
2/3 a bottle of decent chardonnay
2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed.
freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cherry brandy/Kirsch*

*optional, but damn good 


Grate cheese, and toss with flour. Rub heavy-bottomed pot with garlic, and leave in pot. Pour in white wine, and bring up to a gentle simmer. Let garlic simmer in wine for 10 minutes, then fish out. Wisk in flour-dredged cheese, and turn up heat to med-high. If it looks a little funny- don't worry keep whisking. Once it's melted, add nutmeg, salt, pepper and Kirsch.


Serve with whatever you feel like dipping in cheese! This includes, but is not limited to:


Cubed bread
Boiled/roasted potatoes
Apple slices
Cherry tomatoes
Pear Slices
Grapes

Last night, I'd roasted some butternut squash along with the potatoes- it was delicious! Leftovers can just go in the fridge in the pot. Reheat, adding a little more wine to thin if needed.