Go Fondue Yourself: A Valentine's Day Fondue Party Celebration!

Ya know what sucks? Valentines day. Regardless of whether you are in a relationship or not, people are generally miserable. If you're in a relationship, you either get disappointed by your significant other and/or are actively stressed out about what the hell you are actually supposed to do for them. The flip side of course, is that you are single, probably pissed off all day, lonely as hell and wishing to have another person in your life. Unless you are in that lucky .001% who are all delusional and googly eyed, regardless of who you are, you're miserable.


But wait! You don't have to be! That's what Supper Club is here for! You can
turn you Valentine's Day into something awesome if you just have the right
perspective. Sure, Valentines can be about your significant other, but it can
also be just as much fun when you spend time with your friends, or just treat
yourself well. Some of my best Valentine's I have spent single, and on those
days I've always made it a point to do something nice for myself. Whether it be
going to a concert, buying yourself something new or just having a great meal
with your friends, you can turn the horror of Valentines day into something
that's a lot of fun. We, of course are here to help you with the latter. So in
true Supper Club fashion, we present to you Go Fondue Yourself! A Valentines Day Fondue Party Celebration.

Champagne Cheese Fondue
The Fondue
1 garlic clove cut in half lengthwise
1 cup Gruyere, shredded
1 cup Swiss cheese like Emmenthaler, shredded
½ cup Brie, dice
2 tablespoons cornstarch*
1 cup dry champagne (brut)
1 shallot
1 tablespoon lemon juice
generous pinch of nutmeg
white pepper to taste


Stuff to dip
Cubed French bread, apples, vegetables or whatever you would like!

Rub garlic on inside of fondue pot and then discard. Place shredded cheese
(first two) in bag with cornstarch and set aside. Add champagne, shallots and
wine to fondue pot and simmer for two minutes. Slowly add shredded cheese and
brie, stirring constantly in a zig zag pattern
Cook just until cheese is melted and creamy, do not boil. Add nutmeg and pepper
to taste

*I use cornstarch so the recipe will be gluten free but feel free to substitute flour

Beef Fondue with Dipping Sauces

Beef
Any cut (sirloin works well) into 1 cubes marinated over night in red wine, salt, and thyme

Dipping broth
Canola oil filled to 1 ½ inch of pot and ¼ lb butter



Heat oil and butter in a fondue pot to 375 degrees F. Use fondue forks to cook meat in oil until it reaches desired doneness. Serve with sauces.

Sauces
Tomato chutney
½ cup diced can tomato
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon mustard
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 garlic clove mince
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in pan. Cook garlic until light brown, about 3 minutes. Add all other
ingredients and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to
taste.

Asian dipping sauce
½ cup soy
½ rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger (or 2 teaspoons ginger powder)
1 sesame oil

Whisk ingredients together. Yum!

Chipotle Cream Sauce
2 tablespoons (or more if you like it spicy like me) chipotle salsa from the can
½ cup Greek yogurt

Mix and enjoy!


Frangelico (hazelnut) Chocolate Fondue
The Fondue
¾ cup heavy cream
8 oz semisweet chocolate (I use Gihiradelli chocolate chips)
4 oz milk chocolate (I use Gihiradelli chocolate chips)
1 tablespoon Frangelico (can be replaced with any liquor of your choice, Cognac
also works well)

Stuff to dip
strawberries
raspberries
pound cake, cut into cubes
bananas
apples
marshmallows
pretzels

Let cream sit for about 5 minutes to become close to room temperate. Add
chocolate and cream to a medium saucepan. Heat on low until chocolate begins to
melt and whisk. Add Frangelico.

Transfer to fondue pot and keep warm with burner. Serve immediately.


Champagne Cheese Fondue Booze Pairings

Cocktail pairing: French 75
This is one of my favorite cocktails but I like it a little less sweet than most
people so feel free to add a little more sugar, if that is what you are into,
and even stick the rim of the glass into some lemon juice and then sugar. Either
way, there is not better what to kick off your Go Fondue Yourself party with a
little Champagne and a little more Champagne!
1 tablespoon lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ounces dry London gin
3 ounces Champagne
Mix first three ingredients in shaker. Pour into Champagne glass and top with
champagne.

Beer: Hoegaarden Original White Ale
With aromas of lemon, yeast and cloves and coriander on the palate, this is a
perfect companion to bread with cheese, but then again what doesn’t go with
bread and cheese?

Wine: Charles de Fere $11
This cremant from the Burgundy region of France is the perfect ingredient for
your fondue and your glass. Its dry, it bubbly, its a great value, and it sure
to set the mood for whatever might be in store your V-Day...


Beef Fondue Booze Pairings

Cocktail: Whiskey Smash
Because lets face it, the 99.999% want to get smashed on Valentine's Day
1 Lemon quartered
1 teaspoon sugar in the raw
6 mint sprigs
2 oz Makers Mark Bourbon
Splash soda water
Muddle first three ingredients. Add Bourbon. Shake with ice. Add splash soda
water.
Garnish with a mint leaf

Beer: Chimay Dark Brown Ale
This rich lush beer with caramel overtones is perfect for our meat fondue. It is
also higher in alcohol than most beers, so no matter what is in store for you
this Valentine's day you will smiling..

Wine: Rosenblum Zinfandel Vitners Cuvee $13
This Zin is typical of California ZIns- fruit forward, spicy, simple, and full
of alcohol. Bottoms up.


Frangelico Chocolate Fondue Booze Pairings

Cocktail: The Broken Heart
1 1/2 brandy
1 oz dark creme de cacao
1 oz half and half
Pinch nutmeg
Shake first three ingredients together with ice. Strain into small glass and
garnish with nutmeg.

Beer: Sam Adams Cream Stout
Caramel and chocolate in one delicious beer? Yes please.

Wine: Yalumba Tawny Port $17 (half bottle)
This rich nutty dessert wine is perfect with chocolate and it is packing heat so
make sure you catch a cab to the bars for the after party.

Cheers!
Christa and Rachel

Supper Club 1: Thai One On! (1/11/11)

The first time for everyone usually goes like this: awkward at first, a little tingly in the middle, and then surprisingly awesome at the end. The first supper sanity club gathering was no different. Most of us have spent countless hours cooking and eating together but there were actually quite a few new unions and at least one brand new addition to the crew. Luckily, we had the delicious stuffed dates hor d'oeuvres and an abundance of wine to make everyone best friends almost immediately.

Ironically, it was Phoebe who hosted first. Ironic only because although our first hostess is actually the one person who knew everyone and yet no one had ever had seen her work a stove... Thai soup, chicken curry, a case of wine, and conversation that would make Samantha blush later we realized A) We should really make Phoebe slave away in the kitchen more often B) All of our friends have great friends and C) Supper club was the best idea ever!!!

Counting the hours till next Tuesday...


Christa's Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Ingredients:
24 pitted dates
4 oz gorgonzola cheese
24 almonds
1 pound bacon

preheat oven to 400

Stuff dates with cheese and 1 almond each. It may be necessary to slice each date down the middle. Cut each bacon strip into thirds. Wrap a piece of bacon around each stuffed date and secure with a tooth pick. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 5 min on one side. Remove from oven. Flip dates. Bake another 5 minutes.

Adam's (Phoebe's God Brother's) Tom Ka Gai or Goong Soup

Ingredients:
2 cans coconut milk
10 quarter sized slices of Thai ginger (sometimes I sure just a couple big chunks)
1 stalk lemon grass sliced (quarter inch)
5 kafir lime leaves
5 shallots sliced
2-3 tbs. Lime juice
2 tbs. fish sauce
1 tsp. Kosher salt
sliced chicken, shrimp,or white fish
1 coconut milk can full of water
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp. sugar (more to taste as needed)
Chopped cilantro (for garnish)
1-2 Thai or other chili bruised with the side of a knife (optional or to taste)

Place coconut milk and water into saucepan. Bring to a simmer and add galanga, lemon grass, kafir leaves, salt, and sugar for 5 minutes.

At this point you might want to strain the aromatics out. (I don't, I eat around them and spit out the ginger)

Add chicken/shrimp/fish, shallots, mushrooms, and chilli peppers to stalk. Simmer until meat is just cooked through. Remove from heat. Add lime juice and fish sauce.

Taste soup and add seasoning as needed (looking for a balance between salty, sour, spicy, and sweet)

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with chopped cilantro.


Phoebe's Thai Coconut Satay Curry

Ingredients:
Boned, cubed chicken breasts/chicken thighs/what ever part of the chicken you feel like
Some shrimp
Jar Thai Satay sauce (add until tastes awesome)
1 can coconut milk
1 tablespoon. red curry paste (or how ever much you want)
1 teaspoon garlic
Thai basil (meh, pinch or 2)
Rice
Chopped Red pepper
Chopped Green pepper
Chopped white onion
Sliced mushrooms
Can bamboo shoots
Can water chestnuts
Caned Pineapple

Place chicken in wok with coconut milk. Gently simmer until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from wok with slotted spoon

Add Satay sauce, garlic, Thai basil, and red curry paste to coconut milk and stir. Cook for approximately 5 minutes

Return chicken to sauce. Saute vegetables and shrimp then add to chicken and sauce, add pineapple last.

Heat thoroughly and serve over cooked rice.

Serve with sprouts, spiracle, cilantro, oyster sauce, and fish sauce for guests to add as they please.

Booze Pairing
American Gewürztraminer
Australian Shiraz (if you want a red)
Alsatian Pinot Gris
Austrian Charming Grüner Veltliner
Plum wine (duh)
I like my Thai food with a light beer, Beer Chang, Singha Beer if you want to get serious.


About Christa

Christa is a comedian, artist and graphic designer living in Boston. Because most of her family is fresh off the boat, she knows a thing or two about traditional European cooking and baking, provided that the recipes are in English (Thanks a lot, crappy American school system!). She also has a vast knowledge of fancy-smancy beers made by smelly hippies. Although she has no food credits to speak of, generally speaking everything she makes is considered to be "damn good."


About Phoebe

Phoebe is comedian, and wine shop manager, who is also somehow pursuing a masters degree in clinical social work. Though she has no real food credits on her resume, she's well versed in wine and food pairing. She was raised on farm fresh food in Maine, learned about Asian cooking during her time in Thailand, became a seafood fanatic living in Newport RI, and is now well on her way to becoming a full fledged foodie/functioning alcoholic in Boston.

About Rachel

Rachel is the "professional drinker" of the group. She is from California but currently resides in Somerville. She graduated from Boston University's Culinary Arts program in the Fall but her true love is booze, which is why she is drinking her way through the Elizabeth Bishop and Master Sommelier programs. She has traveled the world drinking wine but her favorite spot is among her ladies...


Cheers!
Christa, Phoebe & Rachel