30 days, 30 dinners

Last week, Travis and I sighed heavily over a boring chicken dinner – again. We decided at that moment that it was time to spice things up! I’m not sure if it was the motivation from recently watching Julie & Julia or a blog I read – but we have decided on making 30 nights of dinners, different dinners.

We set some personal rules:
1. It must have at least some nutritional value
2. No meal can be repeated
3. It doesn’t necessarily have to be healthy, but it must be pleasing to our palette.

So here goes…30 days, 30 dinners!

Dinner 1: Cheese Fondue
While watching the Food Network’s The Best Thing I Ever Ate (a personal fave!), I was reminded of our love for fondue. In fact, I have had a lifelong love of fondue. When I was little, my mother had a fondue set and I would play make-believe that I was eating it on a daily basis. I mean, who doesn’t love to dip things in cheese? Okay, the make-believe part is a little odd, but her fondue set was quintessential 80’s style and the colored ends of the dipping sticks were mesmerizing. In my twenties, I took to collecting several different fondue pots, but the one pictured below is my go-to, easy pot.

Recipe: from www.williamssonoma.com
Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 2/3 cup dry white wine (we use white cooking wine when we don’t have regular on hand)
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 10 oz. Emmentaler cheese, grated
• 10 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated (we added a bit of Gouda, too)
• 1 Tbs. cornstarch
• 3 Tbs. kirsch (we use water or white wine instead, b/c we rarely have this on hand)
• Pinch of freshly ground white pepper (we use black)
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (omit if you do not have it on hand)
• Pinch of paprika (we omit)
• 1-lb. loaf French bread, cubed (we use other items too, see below)

Directions:

Rub the inside of a saucepan with the garlic halves; discard the garlic. Pour the wine and lemon juice into the pan, set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Gradually add the cheeses, stirring in a figure-eight motion, until the cheeses are combined, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and kirsch until blended. As soon as the cheese mixture begins to bubble, add the cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook gently, 2 to 3 minutes more, then stir in the white pepper, nutmeg and paprika. Reduce the heat to low and keep the fondue warm, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, assemble the fondue pot, add the cheese fondue to the pot and keep warm according to the manufacturer's instructions. Set the fondue on the table and serve with bread cubes and individually marked fondue forks for dipping.

While this all seems like a lot of work, it really isn’t too bad if you measure and prep everything before starting. We use additional dipping items…

- Green apples – our favorite!

- Brocoli – wash, cut and place in a micro safe dish; add water in the bottom; saran wrap and micro until desired tenderness (3-5 minutes)

- Red Potatoes– wash, cut and place in a micro safe dish; add water in the bottom; saran wrap and micro until desired tenderness (3-5 minutes)

- Meat – we usually use little smokies or polish sausage – sauté in a sauté pan until cooked/warmed through.

What a wonderful Saturday night dinner date for the two of us! It reminded us of our favorite fondue spot in New York City, Dip (which I just learned while writing this is now closed - sad), and prompted us to reminisce of our travels there.

One down, 29 to go!