Fondue Party Help Needed!

[MommytoDylan]

Our group of friends is getting together for a Fondue Christmas Party. We'll have the cheese/appetizer course, salad, meat and veggies, and then dessert. I'm in charge of the meat course.

I thought I'd cook the veggies separate and serve them along side the meat. We'll fondue filet mignon and chicken. I'm not sure, however, what to use as the liquid. I've heard of vegetable broth or oil. Does anyone have any experience with either or any recommendations? I've been looking at recipe sites to no avail.

Thanks so much for your help!!

Meredith

[Sillygirl]

We've used chicken broth. The secret is to get a lot of really great dipping sauces and to cut the meat pieces pretty small. I'd hit the ethnic foods aisle of a good grocery store and pick up a lot of flavorful dips.

[SeekerMage]

We have used the College Inn brand chicken broth to fondue with and its really good. We add a little chopped onion and garlic, and salt and pepper to the broth and it really makes it yummy. I also have found the marinating the meat makes it super yummy.

The steak we usually do in the Tastefully Simple teriaki sauce. (we successfully use a flat iron steak and its sooo good!)

The chicken we marinate in a soy sauce, white wine, garlic and sugar marinate and its yummy. The teriaki is good too but not as strong on the chicken.



I think that the key is to have your meat marinate for a while to get extra flavor and to have the broth be flavorful with the onion garlic and salt. Dipping sauces is a good idea too...never thought of that.


If you go the oil way you want to have breading or something to dip the meat in before cooking I think. I havent done this route before other then at the one restraunt and it was good, but a totally different taste. I really like the broth route better especially since its less messy and healthier.


As for the veggies, I would do something fun like baked mushroom caps filled with cheese and spinach etc. Maybe broccoli and califlower spears that you can dip in cheese sauce etc. Also, bread and butter goes really well with the meat. The bread dipped in the broth is yummy and it helps break up the meat in your stomach a bit etc. Even a chunky fresh veggie salsa or something might be nice.


If you want more recipies let me know, my fondue pot came with some that I can look up for you, like the oil ones etc, and Bcky2 and I have fondued several times together (its our girls night out favorite!) so we can tell ya what works well and what doesnt. :)

Hope that helps some! Sounds like a fun party.

[fredsmom]

I too recommend broth, adding some fresh herbs is a good idea also. We like to use pre cooked shrimp, the kind you can find in the freezer section of the grocery store.

[schums]

We usually use peanut oil (just cause we always have), but there are several other ways to do it. The Melting Pot (fondue restaurant) has 4 different ways to cook.

"Coq au Vin
Our own interpretation of the cooking style favored in the French
countryside. It combines the flavors of fresh herbs, mushrooms,
garlic, imported spices and a hearty Burgundy Wine." Here's a link to an imitation recipe (never tried the imitation, but the original is excellent): http://www.recipezaar.com/126082

"Fondue Court Bouillon
A homemade, seasoned vegetable broth that is full of flavor while
low in salt and cholesterol free." Couldn't find a recipe, but it doesn't sound to hard to make, if you find a good veggie broth. Tastes OK at the Melting Pot, but meat kind of boils in it, as opposed to seared with oil.

"Mojo Fondue
Our newest cooking style. This carribean seasoned bouillon has a
distinctive garlic, citrus flair."

"Fondue Bourguignonne
The European style of cooking in cholesterol-free canola oil served
with our signature fondue batters." This is the one we usually get (and make). The meat cooks easily and quickly (important when you're only cooking 1-2 small pieces at a time).

Also, you can cook the veggies with the meat in the fondue. At The Melting Pot, they provide a bowl of veggies with dinner, including fresh broccoli, mushrooms, yellow squash and red bliss potatoes. Other times we've been there, they've had carrots and cauliflower too.

We LOVE fondue -- used to have it all the time at special meals until DC showed up -- NOT a particularly kid-friendly meal with hot oil!

HTH,
Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[MommytoDylan]

Thank you everyone! What wonderful advice and suggestions!

Meredith

[urquie]

my birthday dinner has always been fondue. we use oil (canola or vegetable) to cook the meat. growing up it was always new york steak (a very flavorful cut of meat) cut into 1-1/2 inch size pieces. now we also do chicken breast (1-1/2 inch pieces) and it tastes great. we just heat the oil up and cook the meat plain (no marinade, no breading, no herbs in the oil, etc.) it's so easy! then we serve it with great dipping sauces. usually a pepper steak sauce, bbq sauce (now that we do chicken) and an asian (lemony ginger soy kinda) sauce. i think the sauces are the most important part - that's the first flavor on the tongue. it's also nice to have toasted sesame seeds to dip the meat in after you dip it in a little sauce. hth