This morning in TODAY'S HOLIDAY KITCHEN, a winter favorite:
fondue
.
And I
'm fond of you, too! Here with two recipes for the cheese or chocolate lover, chef
Zane Holmquist
is the
executive chef
of the
Stein Eriksen Lodge
in
Park City
,
Utah
. Chef, good to see you.
Mr. ZANE HOLMQUIST (Executive Chef, Stein Eriksen Lodge):
Nice to see you. How are you?
ROKER:
I'm great. And this -- so this time of year we like the
fondue
. It's making a big comeback.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
It's huge. It's a big
fondue
thing from
when we were kids
. It's back from the '70s. So we love it.
ROKER:
Right. OK, so dust off the
fondue
pot, let's go.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Get them out. And we start -- I love a
cast iron
fondue
pot. Lots of -- lots of
fondue
pots aren't heavy
cast iron
pot.
ROKER:
Hm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
You can leave this to your kids, it'll last 50 years.
ROKER:
OK.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So easy. We get kind of warm in our
fondue
pot.
ROKER:
Right.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Rub it with a
little
garlic.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
I like to add a
little
-- a
little
flavor.
ROKER:
Now, obviously we're starting with the
cheese fondue
.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
We are starting with the cheese.
ROKER:
That would maybe throw the chocolate off a
little
bit.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
A
little
bit.
And I
'm going to leave the garlic right in there.
ROKER:
OK.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
I'm going to add a
little
white wine. I like to use a
Riesling
.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm. Why's that?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Well, it's a
little
lighter. I think it works with the
Gruyere
and
Emmenthaler
cheese.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And then we're going to add a bit of cream. This is not a low-fat dish.
ROKER:
No.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So it's all about flavor. Fat is flavor, as we know.
ROKER:
Yes, it is.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So we're going to get this going.
ROKER:
Right.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And we're going to add a pinch of salt and a
little
bit of pepper.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So easy, easy times, easy recipes to make for the
holiday season
when you're skiing.
ROKER:
Now, you said cheesewise you're using
Emmenthaler
and
Gruyere
. Is there any others that you could use?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
White cheddar works great.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
I like to do a
Gorgonzola
. You have to be a
Gorgonzola
fan.
ROKER:
Yes.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And as this comes up to a boil now...
ROKER:
Right.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
...just as it comes to a boil, we're going to thicken it with just a
little
corn starch. That's going to keep it all together as we -- as we cook.
ROKER:
OK.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And then we have -- we have this. If you'll give that a bit of a stir and add some cheese.
ROKER:
OK.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
If you'll add in the
Gruyere
, then we're just going to kind of add that in and stir as we go.
ROKER:
Oh, it kind of melts almost automatically.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Oh, it goes right -- goes right in.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And we add some of our
Emmenthaler
, and we just keep stirring until we incorporate. And then we're going to add -- you have to have a
little
bit of nutmeg to make -- to make a traditional
fondue
.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So we grate a
little
bit of nutmeg in there. And you can see how easy this is.
ROKER:
Yeah.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
It's a simple recipe.
ROKER:
And that's it.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Yeah, it's very easy. If, you know, you kind of get the holiday party sprung on you.
ROKER:
And then you -- now, what do you use to dip?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Well, there's some rules. There's no double dipping for you.
ROKER:
No double dipping, unh-unh.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
No double dipping. And if you lose your -- if you lose your dip in the -- in the
fondue
...
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
...you have to buy the next round of drinks, so.
ROKER:
So we've got cauliflower...
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Cauliflower, some baby potatoes.
ROKER:
Now, are these already baked -- already cooked?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
We boiled those a
little
bit so they're cooked.
ROKER:
Boil those a
little
?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And I
like a nice -- I like a nice stout bread, a rye bread, and a -- and a
little
day-old,
little
crispy works great.
ROKER:
Mm. That's terrific.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
But we have to finish...
ROKER:
Oh.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
...with a
little
Kirsch
.
ROKER:
Ah.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So we have to have our
Kirschwasser
, stir that in. Our
cherry brandy
makes the whole deal. And maybe a
little
more fonduing -- a
little
more -- a
little
more brandy.
ROKER:
Yes, there you go. And before you know it, you're under the table. All right, dessert.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Chocolate
fondue
.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Great,
dark chocolate
,
milk chocolate
, milk. And if you'll add our brandy.
ROKER:
Ah, yes.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
All right, let me give you one of these.
ROKER:
And you stir that a
little
.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Chocolate
fondue
.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
And great, the kids'll love this one.
ROKER:
And what is this, just a
little
cake?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Pound cake, cookies, we have some pears, apples, a
little
more brandy if you have children.
ROKER:
Mm, that's terrific.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
Not bad.
ROKER:
Now, how far in advance can you make the
fondue
before you serve it?
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
You have to kind of make it to order. You can have your cheese ready, you can have your chocolate chopped up, and you can use more milk, more dark, whatever your preference.
ROKER:
Mm-hmm.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
So you kind of want to do that just as your guests arrive and put it out, and then you're done. You can enjoy your party.
ROKER:
It's kind of a do-it-yourself party, in a sense.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
It is very simple, easy.
ROKER:
You could -- you could have people make the
fondue
, really.
Mr. HOLMQUIST:
You can, you can. It's in the easy -- an easy holiday party. And, you know, great out on the mountain when you come in from apres-ski. Nothing says apres-ski like
fondue
at
Stein
's.
“ ”