Low fat fondue?

meowers

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I love cheese!
and have been craving cheese fondue ever since we went to The Melting Pot awhile back. I'm pretty skinny and would like to stay that way, but would also like to eat a whole bucket of that stuff...anybody know of a tasty cheese fondue receipe thatdoesnt have a million calories? Some fat is just fine, but a little less would be even better ( as long as it tastes like its not healthy)
 

mews2much

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I will see if I can find one. I love the Melting Pot. I am going to try a new Fondue place in Livermore next time. We made our own Fondue a few Months ago but it wasnt very good.
 

fwan

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Are you being serious?

Just excerise for an hour the day after you eat it!
 

belongstoevie

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Oh~~ The Melting Pot...
<--- That's me died and gone to heaven, where I must be if we're talking about The Melting Pot!!

Now, I'm no cooking expert, but I made home-made fondue (the whole three course meal!) for the same reason as you after I went by. I didn't specifically aim for healthy, but most of my ingredients were. Have you thought of just using the same cheese and such that you use all the time? Assuming your normal stuff is low-fat, mine was. That's all I did. Low-fat cheeses (I think I used three different kinds), low-fat cream cheese... The wine was the only thing not-low-fat! Add in all the same spices...

I don't know the details of the calories, but healthy in should equal healthy out... And, in my humble opinion, what I made was almost as good as The Melting Pot! (Ok, not really, but considering the price difference it sure was!!)
 
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meowers

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Glad I'm not the only one in love with The Melting Pot
and I think just trying it with low fat cheese is a good idea. Never made fondue before, so we'll see how it goes...maybe Kitty can be my guinea pig! (just kidding, although I guess a tinsy bit isnt that bad for her). Let me know how the place in Livermore is, since that's not too far from me if it involves cheese!
 

mrblanche

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OK, here's a basic fondue recipe:

1/2 pound Emmenthaler cheese (this is classic Swiss cheese, with big holes)
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese (this is creamier cheese with small holes)
A bottle of really cheap, dry white wine. Did I say really cheap? If you pay more than $5, you're paying too much. We used to pay 4 francs for a bottle, and 3 francs of that was deposit on the bottle. And it took 5 francs to make a dollar at that time.
A couple of baggettes of French bread. Cut it up in cubes about 1 inch square, making sure each piece has some crust on it.
A pinch of salt.
A pinch of black pepper.
A clove of garlic.
A fondue pot. You DO have a fondue pot, right? If you were alive in the 70s, you do do.
A shot of kirsch. (Personally, I don't use this. I think it makes the taste too bitter.)

Cut the clove of garlic and rub it on the inside of the fondue pot. Add a couple of cups of wine (and I mean 16 ounces) to the pot, and put it on the stove at a medium heat. Add the salt.

Grate the cheese coarsely. Mix the two kinds together, and toss in a couple of tablespoons of white flour. Shake them up, so the flour lightly coats the cheese, keeping it from sticking together.

When the wine is just coming to a boil (little tiny bubbles), start adding the cheese to the wine, a small handful at a time. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon or some other non-stick type. Keep adding in the cheese until it is all in. You should have a smooth, creamy mixture. Add the pepper and kirsch, put the pot on a sterno warmer, and eat with the cut up bread.

You put the piece of bread on your fondue fork (did I mention the forks?), dip it in the cheese, and eat it. Try not to lose the bread in the fondue. According to who you ask, and who's sharing the fondue, the tradition is that anyone who loses their bread in the fondue has to pay for the wine, or has to kiss everyone of the opposite sex at the table.

This is, by the way, the recipe used by Les Armures, the oldest restaurant in the old city of Geneva.
 

mews2much

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I am going to make that. Do you know where I can get a Meat Fondue Pot? I want to do a Fondue Dinner but everyone is out of them here. I have some Fondue Books but the one i really like I lost.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

OK, here's a basic fondue recipe:

This is, by the way, the recipe used by Les Armures, the oldest restaurant in the old city of Geneva.
that's very similar to Alton Brown's cheese fondue recipe.
 

mrblanche

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That's because fondue is pretty basic, and anything beyond what I posted is just gilding the lilly. We've had pretty good dessert chocolate fondues, too.

Now...how about raclette?
 
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meowers

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mrblanche;2303816 said:
OK, here's a basic fondue recipe:

A fondue pot. You DO have a fondue pot, right? If you were alive in the 70s, you do do.

I wasn't alive in the 70's, so I really don't have a fondue pot
but i'm obviously going to have to get one. Can't wait to try that receipe.

Totally different restaurant, but if you're ever in the peir39 area of SF, you gotta check out The Crab House. It's so so good! We go there a few times a year and always enjoy the food alot.
 

mews2much

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I will have to try that. We do go to San Francisco. I have friends and family there. There is another Fondue place in Berkeley we want to try too. My sister has been there two times.
 

cc12

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I have 3 fondue pots. One is electric, one is ceramic for cheese and one is for chocolate. I LOVE fondue. I love to cook and the only way to low fat fondue is to use broth instead of oil. I just go for it when I fondue. I eat all of the cheese I can possibly eat when I do it. My recipe is like mrblanche's. But I also do a cheddar and beer.
I love to cook. One of the best things to do with the meat is to marinate it overnight. It makes it so good.
 

sarahp

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Ohhh man, I am in Switzerland at the moment! This thread just got me thinking - I HAVE to go and have a fondue dinner while I'm here!

There's a little restaurant down the road from where we're staying, and after some Googling, I have discovered it's a fondue restaurant! Woohoo! I found 2 nearby - one has an English website, and one is German - the one near us is the one in German, so that's the winner - more traditional I expect!
 

mrblanche

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Originally Posted by Meowers

Totally different restaurant, but if you're ever in the peir39 area of SF, you gotta check out The Crab House. It's so so good! We go there a few times a year and always enjoy the food alot.
I've eaten a couple of times on Pier 39, but I don't remember what restaurant we went to.
 
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