Remember the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, from which we discovered the Meal in a Muffin Tin? One of its best features is that there is an entire section labeled "Fondue."
Well! Now it is time for some time travel back to 1971 for some of that business!
I know that were I a teenager, I would not be averse to a party centered around melted cheese.Menu:
Mock Cheese Fondue
Vegetable Relish Sticks
Psychedelic Dessert Fondue
Milk
Mock Cheese Fondue (Apple Juice)
2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed Cheddar cheese soup
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
Dippers (below)
In earthenware fondue pot, heat soup and garlic over low heat to just below boiling; remove from heat. Stir half of hot soup into egg yolks*; blend into remaining soup. Stir in cider; heat through, stirring constantly. Transfer pot to source of heat at table. Adjust heat when necessary to keep fondue warm. Swirl dippers in fondue. 4 servings.
Dippers: Cut-up cooked frankfurters, cooked Mini Meatballs (FONDUES card 12), dill pickle chunks, cut up French bread and cauliflowerets.
Mini Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Sauces (below)
Mix all ingredients except sauces. Shape mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls into 3/4 inch balls. Prepare sauces. Cover meatballs and sauces; refrigerate. Remove from refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving.
In metal fondue pot, heat salad oil (2 inches) to 375 degrees; transfer pot to source of heat at table. Adjust heat when necessary to maintain temperature of oil.
Spear meatballs with fondue forks and place in hot oil. Cook until crusty on the outside, juicy inside. Dip into sauces. 6 dozen meatballs.
Sweet and Sour Sauce: In small saucepan, heat 1/4 cup chili sauce and 1/4 cup grape or plum jelly, stirring constantly, until jelly melts. 1/2 cup.
Honey-Soy Sauce: Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. 3/4 cup.
Sauce O' Gold: Mix 1/4 cup prepared mustard, 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon rosemary leaves and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. 1/2 cup.
Psychedelic Dessert Fondue
In dessert fondue pot, pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 package (6 oz.) fruit-flavored gelatin. Stir to dissolve. Adjust heat when necessary to keep fondue warm. Spear Dippers (below) and swirl in fondue, then dip into whipped cream or chopped nuts. 4 servings.
Dippers: Angel food or pound cake squares, marshmallows, pieces of fresh fruit.
Verdict:
Teenage Kitchen Fondue: It's... hot cheese soup! Hooray! I chose this meal for two reasons: 1.) it uses cider instead of wine or beer, and as I have mentioned before, I'm a teetotaler and b.) Psychedelic Dessert Fondue. I presume the reason it is specifically for teenagers is the absence of alcohol. On the down side, it is made of hot cheese soup. Gahhhh. As a thing to dip other things into, it was pretty tasty. As a fondue, it was terrible. Like a fat-free cheesecake. Still, we happily dipped all the recommended dippers into cheese-flavored sauce. I really love French bread, cauliflower, meatballs, and sausages dipped in cheese.
Husband declared that although it was tasty, next time we did fondue he demanded there be cheese involved. I concurred.
Mini Meatballs: Can't go wrong with a mini meatball! We ate about half with the fondue, and then I saved some for spaghetti the next day. I am clever in this way.
Psychedelic Dessert Fondue: Oh my goodness look at that title. So awesome. Or... groovy? I don't know what the cool kids were saying those days. The very title of this recipe was most of the reason I chose it. On the down side, it is hot Jello water. It was fine, but we decided that our pound cake and stale marshmallows were better without being dipped in the hot Jello water. It sort of dissolved the outside of the stale marshmallows into a slick goo, while keeping the inside much like chewing gum.
On the other hand, I can see how kids would really like this. Kids like dipping their food into things, poking things with sticks, and bright colors, so I really think they'd be into this in a big way. This would go over well at a birthday party or somesuch thing, especially if, as suggested, there was whipped cream (or sprinkles!) to dip the food into AGAIN.
Overall: Pretty satisfying, actually. The hot cheese soup dipping may sound gross, but it's actually pretty good. We probably ate a little too much, including most of a cauliflower.
*This is known as tempering. You sloooowly drizzle hot liquid into eggs, while whisking. The point of this is to gradually bring the temperature of the eggs up so they blend smoothly into the mixture instead of instantly becoming chunks of scrambled egg. I think we can all agree this is a good thing.
23 comments:
I love that dress you're wearing...paisleys were so big and bright in the '70's ! Great post brought back a lot of memories for me too ! You're awesome and sooooo Groovy !!!
I got a couple of fondue pots at my Bridal shower. Never quite got into the whole fondue craze but it was fun to partake when others had us over for parties and there was fondues of all kinds.I think I finally donated one ( pea soup green color ) to the Salvation Army and burned up the other one ( bright orange color ) when I tried to do an hot oil/raw meat fondue...what an embarrassing disaster that was !!!
See, Jana? NB LIKES your dress. It was cool! As for dessert fondue, I've never found anything yummier than a Toblerone bar of some sort melted in my fondue pot. It makes any sort of dipper taste stupendous!
NB- It IS a very fancy dress. Very... psychedelic, may I say? :D I can see the hot oil being hard to regulate the heat on, and prone to disaster.
Mom- Of course she does, it is super cool. And psychedelic. Toblerone sounds like a fantastic idea. Presumably sausage would not be good to dip in it, though.
I especially love the matching avocado-green recipe box and fondue pot -- VERY 1970s. I was a small child then and still have vivid memories of household appliances in that color. It was cool back then.
The thought of deep-frying meatballs makes me shudder but I bet they'd be great baked and then dipped into sauces. And the best possible dipper for cheese fondue has to be a Granny Smith Apple. Sounds fun though, might have to have a retro-fondue night myself.
Wow...my mom had that exact recipe box. You got so many recipes per month and paid if you kept them. Wild. Of course, she had the golden kitchen and avocado appliances to match. ;)
Karen- but of course the recipe box and fondue pot must match! Or at least coordinate. Possibly with a harvest gold tone. I hadn't thought of dipping granny smith apples into cheese fondue, but now you mention it, I must try it.
Celeste- Surely subscription recipe card libraries are one of the worst ideas ever invented, fashionable avocado coloring notwithstanding.
Oh my goodness, hot Jello fondue is maybe the worst idea I have ever heard. Maybe even worse than that snail water recipe you rejected. I am cringing.
Worse than snails! That is very bad. I take it that you are not a Jello fan, then. :D
Your mother wore that dress when I dated her in 1971. I recall we got two fondue pots for wedding gifts.
You were fortunate indeed! I didn't get ANY fondue pots for my wedding. :'(
If we had known you wanted a fondue set for your wedding, we wouldn't have spent all that cash on a Kitchen-Aid.
I wore that dress in a school play once. It glowed in the blacklights backstage.
That dress glows in any light, such is its majesty.
I see you have the dress but I still have your mother.
Your Dad is a real keeper and your Mom is a lucky lady !!!
Yes, they are both very nice!
Jana - you may have not gotten any fondue sets for your wedding, but there was much dipping of things into a chocolate fountain at the reception!!
Darn right, there was! And it was awesome. With some casualties in the niece dresses department, I believe...
I think I still have my mom's boxed set of recipe cards, though her box is cantaloupe orange.
If you do the meatballs again, consider using some of them for that quintessential 70's cocktail party dish, Waikiki meatballs, which meant you heated the cooked meatballs in a crock pot with pineapple chunks, bits of green pepper, (ugh) and sweet & sour sauce. If you're already made this, and I haven't gotten there yet, I apologize.
I haven't made it, but that does sound REALLY familiar, as it it is floating around in a handful of 70's cookbooks. I'm going to have to agree on the green pepper.
Serve it with a bag of pretzel twigs, so you can have that cocktail party atmosphere, but not have to clean up toothpicks.
That one I learned from Peg Bracken's "I Hate to Cook Book". Have you encountered that one yet?
That's actually not a bad idea... No, haven't found that one.
You do know that this is from the Beastie Boys body Movin video?
Well I do now. Not sure why those fellows were so keen to get their hands on this recipe.
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