We decided to eat-in on Valentine’s Day to avoid the crowds on what a friend in the restaurant biz once referred to as “amateur night.” But we wanted a bit of romance…maybe something we could feed each other little tastes of. Enter fondue.
After researching lots of vegan fondue recipes with potato, rutabaga, and more–and admittedly loving the rutabaga-based fondue at Vedge restaurant in Philly–all of them sounded like lots of work with questionable textures.
As with queso and all of the machinations vegans go through to create a Mexican cheese sauce causing me to wonder, “Why not just melt vegan cheese with Rotel tomatoes?,” and doing it with great success, I decided to veganize a very traditional dairy-based fondue.
I simply swapped out vegan for dairy-based cheese in a recipe by Tyler Florence and I wouldn’t change a thing about the dairy version for Bob nor the vegan version for me. Swiss is traditional, but if you can’t find vegan Swiss, cheddar is lovely too.
We own a fondue pot, but for just the two of us, we didn’t want to break it out because we didn’t want to make that large of a quantity. I wasn’t sure if microwaving would work, but a gratin dish in the mic seemed more fondue pot-like than a saucepan, and it worked beautifully.
Yield: 1 serving (easily doubles; if you double perhaps use 2 gratin dishes)
1/4 pound vegan cheddar or Swiss cheese, shredded
In a small bowl, coat the cheese with cornstarch and set aside. Rub the inside of a small ceramic gratin dish with the cut sides of the garlic clove halves, and then discard.
Using full power in the microwave, heat the wine and lemon juice and bring to bubbling, 30 seconds or so. Stir the cheese into the liquid and heat 30 seconds at a time, whisking in between, until melted. Once cheese is melted and smooth, stir in cherry brandy, mustard, and nutmeg.
Serve immediately on a wooden cheese board or platter with dippers. Gently reheat fondue and whisk as necessary.
March 18, 2018 at 6:21 pm
I don’t own a microwave. How would I make this on the stove?
March 18, 2018 at 9:05 pm
I made it specifically for the mic, but you might try a double boiler or, if you don’t own one, a smaller saucepan set over a larger one of simmering water which would be similar to a fondue pot. If you try it, please let me know if it works.