New Year’s Fondue-Variation on a Theme
Fondue means “to melt” so I suppose our New Year’s tradition wasn’t strictly speaking a fondue this year. We had reached our capacity at the dining room table so I divided the courses between an appetizer course in the living room, main course in the dining room and then back to the living room for dessert. I also knew that our oil pots would be at capacity so I made a couple of dishes to nibble on while the veggies and meats were sizzling.
I chose a Chinese New Year theme, as a vegetarian was staying with us over the holidays and we incorporated her tastes into our tradition with a selection of tempura items. Turns out they were the big hit and we will always do our fondue veggies this way. Sister #3 provided an entire bag of decorations from her New Moon party.
We started with a spicy appetizer made from melted Bothwell red pepper cheese and red wine with white and whole wheat baguettes. I usually make my own bread but on this occasion I discovered that the Superstore in our neighbourhood sells them for a buck each and better yet-they were hot when I bought them!
This photo is an illustration that you can set a pretty table very inexpensively. I use a plastic table cloth when we fondue and I got everything in the 50% off Christmas section.
I had the kids cut and prep veggies. We enjoyed sweet potatoes, asparagus, Spanish onions, red peppers and shiitake mushrooms-the mushrooms being THE hit. We mixed the coating from egg, flour and milk and then rolled everything in panko flakes for crunch.
I also put together a curry fried vermicelli dish and this quickly assembled salad from broccoli slaw, sugar peas, edamame beans and a creamy sesame dressing. Chicken, beef, pork and shrimp were seasoned in a variety of marinades. Remember to drain the proteins well, so that you don’t have an oil explosion at your table.
Our guests Linda and Jessie brought a beautiful selection of wines including an Australian Riesling that we are officially in love with. I meant to open the champagne with the dessert course but we opted for the Manitoba blend of loose tea from Cornelia Bean instead. I usually use Toblerone bars for chocolate fondue but the grocery was out and had not had time to restock so instead I purchased pure milk chocolate chips which we melted with cointreau. We dipped our favourite selection of fruit pieces but I also put out shortbread and almond biscotti and these too were a new hit.
Kath’s quote: “People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.”-unknown
feel the love