I decided to make cheese fondue for dinner last night. I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten fondue, though I always meant to and loved the idea. And all last year in Hanover I meant to break out the fondue pot but never got around to it. I used a recipe from Epicurious that had lots of happy reviews, a Three Cheese Fondue made with champagne. (I used prosecco.)

The recipe called for Gruyère, Emmenthal and a bit of brie, plus shallots, cornstarch, lemon juice, champagne and a bit of nutmeg and white pepper.

I used the cheese grater in the Cuisinart for the first time–now that we have a dishwasher I’m trying to get over my Cuisinart-Avoidance Complex (all those fussy little pieces to wash!). Oh my GOD. It literally took 20 seconds to perfectly grate all the cheese (not the brie, obviously). Amazing.

I used prosecco that was already in the fridge, since I figured it would be nice to drink with the fondue.

I cooked the mixture on the stove since I’d never used the fondue pot and I’d bought the wrong size sterno can (sigh) and I just didn’t know if it would really cook. I think it would have and it would have been more fun to do the cooking in the pot in front of the fire. Not scenic, though. The mixture looks super gross when you add the cheese in to the shallots and champagne:

It did thicken up nicely, and I transferred it to the glass insert for the fondue pot (which is fussy and hard to get in and out of those handles):

Then put it over the hot water in the metal part of the pot, and set the whole thing up on my pretty new yellow tray (ugh, nice shot.):

We ate it with a big salad straight from the bowl, and the champagne, in front of the fire. It was a bit warm for all that hot cheese and hot fire, but fun to picnic!

I’d planned to make fancy hot chocolate with real whipped cream for dessert, but we were too full. Another time!