Easy Cheese Fondue Recipes

Here are two easy cheese fondue recipes.

Cheese fondue sometimes sounds exotic because some recipes do use a few ingredients that some of us may not have on hand all the time.

The kirsch in the second recipe for example. Kirsch is a type of liqueur and should be available in most liquor stores.

Cheese Fondue with a Twist

1 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup beer
1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
1 tablespoon deli style mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (for dipping)

Mix Cheddar with beer in fondue pot (if you don't have a fondue pot, a crockpot will work nicely). Heat slowly, stirring frequently, until melted. Add seasonings. Keep warm over a small fondue flame.

Fill bread basket or bowl with crusty French or Italian bread cut into 1x1" cubes. Spear the bread with a long, heat proof fork and dip it into the warmed cheese. The fondue will be a bit thin at first, but will thicken as it continues to warm.

Serves 6.

• Use a mix of gruyere, swiss, emmenthaler and muenster for a more traditional cheese fondue.

• Using a spicy cheese like pepper Jack or a cheese with Jalapeno peppers turns this more into a Mexican cheese fondue.

Authentic Traditional Cheese Fondue

1 pound emmenthaler or 1/2 pound emmenthaler and 1/2 pound gruyere cheese
1 clove garlic
2 cups dry white wine
3 tablespoons kirsch
1 teaspoon corn starch
nutmeg, white pepper or paprika to taste (optional)

Grate the cheese. Measure all ingredients and have them ready to add with one hand. Your other hand will be busy stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon.

Rub a heavy saucepan with the garlic. Heat the wine in the saucepan, uncovered, over a moderately high heat. Pour kirsch into a cup. Add the corn starch and stir until well dissolved.

When the wine is to the point where it is almost covered with a fine foam, but not yet boiling, start adding the cheese gradually, stirring constantly. Keep the heat fairly high, but do not let the fondue boil. Continue to add the cheese until it begins to thicken a bit and you can feel a very slight resistance to the spoon as you stir, about 10 minutes from the time you begin to add the cheese.

Still stirring constantly, add the kirsch and corn starch mixture. Continue to cook until the fondue begins to thicken. Add nutmeg, white pepper or paprika to taste. Transfer the fondue to a heat proof heavy pan which can be placed over an alcohol lamp or use a chafing dish or electric skillet, adjusted to low heat to keep it warm and melted.

Makes 4 servings.

• For the fondue to melt and maintain the right consistency, the cheese or combination of cheeses used must be natural cheeses, not pasteurized types.
• The wine used must be a dry white wine.
• Although kirsch is the traditional liqueur used in cheese fondue recipes, you may substitute others like slivovitz, a cognac or an applejack.