Cheese Fondue

This has been an all time favourite in our house for many years! The birthday meal for my daughter, along with Chocolate Fondue was always Cheese Fondue. 

Thus was also a staple dish during the winter and lent. The cheese I used was very much 

what I had on hand.  For special occasions, I like to use Gruyere cheese as it has a creamy nutty taste but any hard or semi hard cheese will do. In my early cook books on Fondue, Swiss cheese was suggested, as were many other cheeses.  Since my kids like Cheese Fondue, I always and still use milk in place of wine.  I prefer the taste as did our Swiss friend's Mom, much to her surprise.  

The first time, I was invite to a Cheese Fondue, I was in awe of the beautiful table setting along with the creamy cheese sauce in a ceramic pot my coworker's Austrian husband had prepared. What a lovely and intimate setting for four people.   At the end, Ernie had dropped a raw egg to clean the pot of all the burned cheese at the bottom. He used a piece of bread on a fondue fork and by whisking the egg around the pot picked up bits of cheese stuck to pot. This was equally shared with all of us. Delicious!

For Christmas, my now husband bought me a stainless steel Fondue pot which we use for Meat Fondue or Fondue Bourguignonne. I had used this pot with a boiler section, but I do prefer the earthenware pots for Cheese Fondue. 

I like to toast cubes of bread on a cookie sheet for the Cheese Fondue.  A platter of vegetables and fruit like apples can also be added, but the traditional way is to use only bread cubes.


The bases of my Cheese Fondue is a White Sauce that is easily made in the Microwave or on the stovetop.  For this Christmas party, I used the two smaller pots so that it was easy reach for dipping into the pot.  I placed a fondue pot between four people.  I made three cups of white sauce to which grated gruyere and old white cheddar was added.  A clove of garlic had been added to the white sauce as it was cooking, fresh grated nutmeg was also added to the sauce at the end.  

The sauce did take a while to come together, but just be patience and slowly heat the sauce minute by minute in the microwave or on the stove top until the sauce comes together. Do not over heat!  Adding heated milk to the sauce, also speeds the process.   The cheese was slowly added to the sauce while mixing the cheese in until melted.    

Because of the richness of this meal, a Caesar salad was also made.  Loaded Caesars started the meal as the Cheese fondue was prepared. 

Swedish Meatball

Swedish Balls were a staple in my Mom's kitchen growing up and were and are still seen at fall super and weddings.  

Swedish balls are small meatballs served in a creamy sauce.  Delicious as a side dish with Thanksgiving and Christmas Turkey, disappearing quickly especially with the children

 I use my ebelskivers cast iron pans to cook the meatballs. Yes, I have two which I was going to give one pan away as a gift until I made meatballs in this pan. The pan forms perfectly shaped meatballs!   Nothing like making Swedish Meatballs using a Danish cast Iron pan! 

Swedish Meatballs can be prepared to be reheated in the oven and freeze well.  I like to mix ground pork and ground beef together for extra flavor. 

Swedish Meatballs 1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/2 c bread crumbs (optional)
S&P

Mix lightly and form one inch balls.  Brown the meat balls until cooked.  I use my ebelskivers  cast iron pan. 

Perfectly shaped meatballs

Once the meatballs are cooked, place in a dutch oven or slow cooker. Add a simple white sauce to the meatballs or two cans of good quality mushroom soup. 

 White Sauce

This was the first recipe I was taught when we bought our first Panasonic Microwave in 1981. Madame Benoit classes came with the purchase of the Microwave.

The bases of the recipe is equal ratio of flour and butter, increasing the ratio depending on amount of sauce needed. 

2 T flour
2 T butter
1 C milk 
Melt butter, 30sec in microwave
Add flour to butter and mix well
Heating the milk before adding to the butter and flour mixture speeds the process.
Whisk the heated milk into the flour and butter mixture
Beep mixture at 1 min intervals and whisk in-between until the mixture thickens
Add white sauce to meatballs and heat until meatballs are warm
Mushroom can be added to the meatball mixture

Spoon meatballs into containers or casserole to be frozen.  The casserole is ready to go, reheat until hot before serving.

Pasta Casserole; Ma'Karonah bil Bechamel

This Syrian pasta dish is a neat spin on baked pasta casserole.  This dish was prepared for a birthday dinner for one of the boys who turned eight in the new year.  

    

Ground lamb was sautéed in Olive Oil, along with chopped white onion, garlic and Arabic spices, such as Cinnamon, Cardamon, Curry, Turmeric, Black Pepper and Salt.

Tomato paste and a can of crushed Tomatoes were added to the meat mixture and simmered to develop flavors.  Again the sauce was adjusted to taste by added some of the spices below!

Penne was cooked, drained and half of the penne was added to a well greased casserole pan.  The meat sauce was then spread on top of the cooked pasta. The rest of the Penne was spread on top of meat sauce.  Béchamel sauce was poured on top of the Pasta.  Mozzarella was sprinkled on top of the sauce.. The casserole was baked at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly with a golden top! 

In making the Béchamel Sauce, about 1/2 c of butter was melted and about 3 cups of milk was added and heated. Flour (1/2 c) was added into this and whisked until blended into the sauce. More milk was added for the desired consistency!

The birthday boy enjoyed a Lava Cake with whipped cream topped with a Maraschino Cherry