We hosted our third fondue night of the year. I have to say, last night’s was the best so far. We’ve experimented with different recipes and ideas and are still working out how much food to buy (we’re always left with a lot of extra meat and veggies). Here are some of the favorites:
Broth
Mojo Fondue Broth (from desktopcookbook.com) – This broth is very similar to the Mojo broth at The Melting Pot. It doesn’t claim to be related, but it certainly does smell and test similar. Either way, it’s a very flavorful broth that works well with just about everything. It has cumin, jerk seasoning, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic, and cilantro.
Vegetable and Wine Broth – This was an experiment since I didn’t have all the ingredients for this Coq Au Vin Fondue broth. Basically, use 2 parts vegetable broth to 1 part white wine (we had cheap chardonnay on hand), add 2 cloves with a garlic press, and a handful of chopped green onions.
Marinades
Not-really-teriyaki Beef – I normally just marinate the beef with some mixture of the following ingredients: soy sauce, mirin, garlic, green onions, and sesame oil. I have no idea how much of each I put in.
Orange Pork (from recipehound.com) – This is another recipe I went looking for after our big night out at The Melting Pot. I was really surprised at how the marinade flavors carry through even after cooking it in the broth. The marinade is simple enough to make. It’s orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, dried onion, dried oregeno, dried thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
Sauces
The Melting Pot’s Gorgonzola Port Dipping Sauce (from wafb.com) – This was by far the favorite sauce of the night. It makes a great stuffing for mushrooms. It’s also really good with steak. The recipe makes more then you need for Fondue but you can use the left overs as veggie or cracker dip. I recommend increasing the garlic and port to taste. A 1/4 ounce of port just isn’t very much.
The Melting Pot’s Green Goddess Dip (from ajc.com) – This also makes a good stuffing for the mushrooms and works as a veggie dip.
Last Minute Spicy BBQ Sauce – Again, I found myself without the right ingredients, this time it was ketchup. Rather than make my own BBQ sauce I decided to just enhance whatever store bought sauce I had. I pulled out the almost-empty bottle in the fridge, added a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce, a few drops of my favorite hot sauce, and a couple splashes of cider vinegar for extra tang.




I’ll vouch, the sauces were excellent on this go-around and the scallops were a welcomed addition The mushrooms with the gorgonzola port sauce was the highlight for me.
By: Ben on August 31, 2009
at 9:03 am