Cheddar and Swiss Fondue Recipe

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow! In previous posts, I’ve shared a Gluten Free Cheddar Fondue Recipe and my favorite Brie and Blue Cheese Fondue Recipe, but this time for the day appreciating love I’m going with a classic combo here of a Cheddar and Swiss Fondue Recipe. This Cheddar and Swiss Fondue  is perfect for a romantic Valentine’s Night or any romantic night meal at home where you can snuggle in close together chatting and dipping.

I’m a huge fan of cheese. So much of lover of cheese that when my bf (now husband) once mentioned he might filter his vegetarian food to include only cheese with vegetarian rennet, I told him outright “Oh… really. I don’t know if we are going to work out so much if you do…” A few days later, he said he would overlook only eating cheese with vegetarian rennet, just like he knows that beers sometimes (mostly not, but sometimes) could use animal product to help filter beer as part of the process. Most of the time this is not labeled anyway, so it’s really difficult to tell, be it cheese or beer. And so, it makes it ok that at least one romantic day a year, we have a fondue dinner.

And this doesn’t include usually when I also host a ladies wine share night that has a fondue theme. So I guess my fondue making in at least twice a year, if not more.

This Cheddar and Swiss fondue is perfect for F and I because rather then using wine, it uses beer – a light ale, so not too heavy. The Swiss cheese portion makes for it to be gooey which is fun when dipping bread and vegetables in (after pulling the item out of the fondue, twirl it a little bit!). But, the cheddar has great flavor, and combining the two makes it more interesting then just a mac and cheese sauce. Though, if you have any fondue cheese leftover after you’re full, you can totally put it in the fridge and reheat it in a pot to use it to make mac and cheese, which I have done before!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (from 8 ounce cheese)
• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese) from 8 ounce cheese)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of ground mustard
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of a light ale or similar beer
• 2 teaspoon of vegetarian (or normal) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. I recommend grating your own cheese rather then pre-grated, you can do it the day before while watching This Is Us for instance. The pre shredded version in packages comes with other additives already. If you purchase a a 16 ounce block of cheese which is a common size, it will not take the whole block to make 2 cups,  only half, so it’s your choice to grate it anyway in case you want more fondue and you can add more cheese towards the end as needed or use it in some other casserole or something if you don’t!
2. Peel the garlic clove and rub the inside of your fondue pot with a clove – your fondue pot could be an actual fondue pot that has on off/on switch, or you could use a regular pot, or a crockpot/slow cooker (which is what I used here). Begin to heat the fondue pot on high.
3. As the pot is heating, mince both garlic cloves and add it to the pot. Once the garlic is sizzling a bit, add the cheese, followed by the ground mustard and start with pouring 1/2 cup of the beer. Let all the cheese melt, stirring.
4. As you stir, add the vegetarian (or normal) Worcestershire sauce and ground in about a teaspoon of fresh ground pepper. Once everything is melded together, turn down the heat to low. Depending on the flavor and consistency, you may want to add a bit more beer. You will need to still stir your cheese once in a while just to keep it from solidifying, and possibly turn up the heat now and then.

For dippers, you can choose any kind of bread and cut into cubes – I sometimes choose a mix of white french bread with rye or pumpernickel. You could also use pretzels!

I also like to have raw mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower florets, cut peppers, and cooked potatoes (either fingerlings or larger potatoes then cut smaller to be bite sized). If you aren’t trying to keep this vegetarian, you might also use sliced and cooked sausage (bratwurst for instance!) or meatballs or sliced steak or diced ham. Whatever you choose, e you could easily prep almost all of this ahead of time which makes it perfect for a romantic weekday night meal or when Valentine’s Day falls on a weekday like this year – all you have to do is melt the cheese, set out the dippers, and get close together over the pot!

Optionally, as another dish to offer something cold between the hot bites, you could offer a ranch dip – everything I mentioned above you can then dip either in the ranch dip or hot cheese. Plus now you can snack on chips while waiting for your cheese to melt.

Maybe you and your other half have had these conversations already, but here are some ideas to help you get started while melting and dipping:

– Review the five love languages and talk about which ones are the ones you value

– If you suddenly won the lottery, what would you do? Where would you travel to and do there? Would you still work like now or what would you do instead?

– What movie or TV couple do you think is the best and which is the worst and why?

– If you have all the knowledge about me you do now but it’s an alternate time line where we didn’t get together and now  you are trying to have a conversation with me to get me to go on a date with you, what would you talk or propose to do to get me to agree? (both sides answer)

– What is your happiest memory of something we did together (wedding and children don’t count)

– What’s your survival plan during an apocalypse (varying types of apocalypse scenarios are ok haha!)

Have you ever made fondue at home? What would you choose for your cheese or dippers? What do you think would be an interesting conversation starter?