Cheddar and Beer Fondue

Fondue are fancy. Not really. This was is insanely easy and quick. And the best part is that you can eat lots and lots of cheese! A word of warning - not to sound too much like Martha Stewart, but using high quality cheeses really is the secret to making this recipe work. In a pinch, we tried using inexpensive grocery store orange cheddar, and the consistency and flavour were all wrong. A nice aged white cheddar really is the way to go. I've used different beers and they all work well, but the cheese is key! Our usual vehicles to convey the cheese from plate to mouth is potato and bread. But there are other traditional options, which I've listed, which we will explore.

2 Tbsp (1oz/28gr) butter
1 clove garlic
6 oz beer (hold another 6 oz of beer aside to add if too thick, and record how much more is added)
8 oz aged white cheddar
8 oz Gruyere
2 Tbsps flour
1 tsp dry mustard
½ tsp paprika
pinch cayenne
pinch nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp black pepper

1. Rub the bottom of the cook pot with the garlic. Melt the butter in it, then add the beer and warm it up without bringing it to a boil, over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile combine the cheeses in a bowl with the flour.
3. Reduce the heat under the beer to a gentle simmer and add the cheese in handfuls, stirring constantly until all the cheese has gone in and melted
4. Stir in the spices. Transfer the fondue to a warm fondue pot.
5. If the sauce is too thick, add beer.If it's too soft, add cheese

Serving Suggestions:
         - dense cubed bread (a Boule or baguette is particularly delicious)
and/or
         - with lightly boiled cauliflower (2 to 3 minutes in salted water)
and/or
         - boiled baby potatoes
and/or
         - boiled German sausage slices like wursts or franks
and/or
         - pickles, pickled onions

Welsh Rabbit (Rarebit)

Also known as Welsh Rarebit. It's a lovely, cheesy, bready meal made with beer. Homer Simpson, eat your heart out!

⅔ cup milk

1½ Tbsp flour

14 oz sharp cheddar

1 tsp English mustard powder

4 oz beer (I haven't explored the difference between using Stout or Ale)

2 egg yolks

a pinch of cayenne

Black pepper, to taste (¼ tsp)
Crusty country-style bread (my fave)

OPTIONAL - 1 thick slice of ham per slice of bread.

1. Start toasting, until golden brown, some thick homemade bread (I used slices of Bread).
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the milk until just below boiling and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Whisk until it just starts to brown.
3. Whisk and add the beer slowly. It will bubble up, which actually helps break up the roux. Cook another 3 minutes, whisking, until thick and smooth.
4. Add the cheese, the egg yolk, the mustard and the cayenne. Cook until the cheese melts and everything is well combined, then season with black pepper and set aside to rest a couple of minutes.
5. Turn on the broiler. Arrange the bread onto a cookie sheet. Spread the cheese sauce until it spills over the edges of the toasted bread; this prevents the edges of bread from burning under the broiler, then put in the oven to grill for 20 to 30 seconds or until it's bubbly and starting to brown.

Carbonnade à la Flammande - Beef and Beer Stew

Last weekend someone broke into our apartment and stole my laptop - the one with all my recipes on it... So now I'm starting from scratch and saving the ones I like to this blog. One such recipe is Carbonnade à la Flammande. I'd found a version of it on a few different sites and tried them all. They were all good, but then I tried Laura Calder's version (I'm afraid that my blog will become a fan site for Laura!) and it was great. I made it again last night for Keven, my brother-in-law visiting from North Hollywood, and it was ok, but didn't compare to the first one I'd made; instead of caramelizing the onions, I cooked them until soft and brown from the beef residue, making them sweeter. Here is Carbonnade à la Flammande or, as Laura has called it, Beef in Beer.

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter, more as needed

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 lbs sirloin tip, cut into cubes

3 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbsps. flour

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 and 1/2 cup beef stock

2 cups beer

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Bouquet Garni (I usually use parsley, thyme and a couple of bay leaves)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325F.
2. Melt the butter and oil together in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the beef strips on all sides. Remove. In the same pan, fry the onions until soft and brown, about 10-15 minutes, then add the garlic one minute. Set aside. (Check if there is fat in the pan. If not, add a good tablespoon of butter and let it melt.)
3. Add the flour and sugar to the pan and cook 1 minute to make a roux. Gradually whisk in the stock and bring to a boil. Add the beer and the vinegar to the boiling stock, and bring back to the boil, cooking until thickened, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.
4. In a large casserole, layer the onion mixture alternately with the beef, seasoning each layer as you go with salt and pepper (don't skimp on the salt as the beer is quite sweet). Tuck in the bouquet garni and pour the liquid over. Cover and bake for 2-1/2 hours. If you can wait a day before eating; cool the dish completely when it’s out of the oven, and refrigerate overnight. The flavour will be even better when you reheat it.

EXPERIMENTATION: I haven't really paid attention to the kind of beer used, and would like to pin down if an ale is better than a stout or vice-versa.