Wisconsin Cheese-Trio Fondue

I am waiting as we speak for the man to call me to tell me he is bringing my oven home.  I feel like I have been without it for 100 years!  That may be a slight exageration.  100 years... 2 weeks... give or take a day.  Whatever, it's been a while and my body is begining to protest to the junk I have been eating.  Not to mention I don't like to leave large electrical plugs bare for the children or animals to touch.  It's one thing to be without an oven, it an entirely different thing to worry about your cat electrocuting itself on a nightly basis.  It has been stressful.  More stressful is that they cannot figure out what is wrong with it.  It worked perfectly for them... of course!

I hope it works for me because I just received my copy of ad hoc at home, I know I know... that's sooo last year, but I have issues spending $50 on a cookbook.  Especially when I heard that the average number of recipes one cooks out of a cookbook is 3-5.  Of course that does break down to about $10 a recipe... that's so bad when you are talking Thomas Keller.  Really not so bad considering I already tried out the Fennel Mustard recipe... lovely, and the chocolate brownies... DIVINE!  I can't wait to cook up some homestyle comfort food.

Until then, we must make due with food that does not require an oven.  I realized I never gave you the recipe for the cheese fondue from the fondue night.  This is AMAZING.  I use all caps because I am shouting at you.  YOU MUST TRY THIS.  Seriously I think I would have licked the pot if there hadn't been company present.

Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue

Ingredients

6 oz. shredded Butterkäse cheese, [can be found at Whole foods, but you can also substitute Gouda
          if you can't find Butterkäse, I found Beerkäse and used that].  Always measure cheese by weight.
6oz. shredded Fontina Cheese (6oz)
3 Tbsp flour
¾ cup white wine
¼ cup dry sherry
2 tsp chopped shallots
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 oz. crumbled blue cheese
2 Tbsp chopped scallions

Method

Toss the Butter(Beer)käse and Fontina cheese with the flour in a bowl. Place a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with 2 inches of water. You may also use a conventional double boiler. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and pour the wine and sherry into the bowl. Sit in the shallots using a fork. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add half the cheese blend and cook until the cheese is melted, stirring constantly. Add the remaining cheese blend a small amount at a time, stirring constantly in a circular motion after each addition until the cheese is melted. Fold in the pepper and Blue cheese. Pour into a warm fondue pot and keep warm over low heat. Garnish with the scallions.

NOTE: The cheese is shredded and tossed with flour to aid din thickening and to improve the viscosity of the fondue. The fondue should be the consistency of warm honey when completed. Monitor the cheese carefully as it is being added. Not all of the cheese may be needed, and, in some cases, more cheese may be needed to reach the perfect consistency.

Recommended dipping accompaniments: Variety of breads (however not the pecan one that I tried.  Cheese goes with many thing, but not cinnamon... ewww.  Thought it was just a nut loaf.), green apples, mixed vegetables.

First post... missing oh so many elements

I used to spend a lot of time cooking. I mean a LOT of time. It was my escape, it was my respite, it was my love. These days I have a new love that takes up my time, my one year old, Monkey, or M, we'll use both here (I believe Blogger ettiquette says not to use names). Now this in not our first child, but it is our first child in many years. My daughter, K, now seventeen, just graduated from high school, and, while still one of the loves of my life, no longer requires watching around hot stoves, or help putting shapes through cut outs in a box. We also have a cat, Liaden (I think she is safe using her real name), that's her. She takes up a lot of time as well. She is standing in for a picture of the food as I did not take photos, as will be addressed later, I did not expect to start a food blog, so I didn't know I would need the photo at all. Will work on that, food blogs should probably contain photos of food now and again.

I once dreamt of a fancy food blog, with gorgeous pictures, and a lovely little following, but then thought... like I have time or the talent for that kind of thing. I am a hack photographer at best with my point and shoot, I spend my days thinking up menus that might tempt a toddler rather than a small cult following, or the eight course dinner parties I used to throw a few years ago, but I still love food and cooking and know how quickly time can pass. In the blink of the eye he will go from toddler to teenager, and when that time comes I will probably be sad that I am once again baking cakes rather than playing pat-a-cake.

My one nod to the elegant site I wish I had time to produce is the Blog's name. Not that I have a particular fondness for Coulis or Compote, or that they are inherently elegant, I just like the sound of it, and it does sound a little more snazzy than say...frazzled crazy woman trying to cook for cranky child. Maybe a better name for the blog would be something like... Misadventures in Cooking, Cooking for Baby, or something along those lines, but for now I'll just stick with what makes me smile.

So let's jump right to something simple. I had this salad once in NYC at the Hudson Hotel restaurant where it was made with little peppermint beets, which could possibly be a made up name as I have never found nor heard of them since, but they did look like little peppermint candies all red and white and lovely. The second time was at Smokejacks, on Church Street in Vermont. I could be completely wrong on my recollections of the salad's but this is how I remember them. I also came up with this recipe as a combination of a two or three recipes on-line that I did not note because I did not know I would need to until now. I will do better with this in the future. So if you have a recipe on line that resembles this, it is quite possible I read it and used it for my very own.

Roasted Beet, Blue Cheese, and Candied Pecan Salad

Ingredients

Candied Pecans
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Dressing
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
A good shot of honey
1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon salt
Lot o’ground pepper

Salad
1 beet per two people
½ cup celery
Baby arugula or baby romaine
Stilton blue cheese (to preference), I used gorgonzola the first time and I know that plain old blue will work much better. AND stilton is my favorite for blue so there we have it.

Method

Candied Pecans
Prepare the pecans first, to allow them to cool. In a skillet over medium heat, stir ¼ cup of sugar together with the pecans (watch carefully, as these will burn eaily- you want it hot enough to melt the sugar but not so hot that it scorches it. Continue stirring constantly until the sugar has melted completely and the pecans are beginning to turn a beautiful caramel color. Carefully transfer nuts to a cutting board and separate them from each other using a fork or spatula so you don’t burn yourself on the molten melted sugar. Allow to cool. Once cooled, eat one to ensure they are fantastic… only one, or five… not all of them.

Roasted Beets
Wrap the beets individually in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until tender, about 1.5 hours. Cool for 20 minutes, then peel the beets by holding the under cold running water and rubbing off the skins. Cut into small cubes and place desired amount on top of salad, I recommend more than the cheese.

Dressings
Blend vinegar with all ingredients except oil. I do this by cheating really. I place them all in a small disposable plastic ware and shake until it is all combined. Mix well, allow sugar to dissolve. Add oil and whisk together. Mix well before dressing greens and any veggies you may add like the celery.

Put it all together....

Dress greens, pile on plate, top with cheese, beets, and pecans, serve.

Keep all parts separate if you want to eat leftovers. Only dress the greens you will eat.