Cheese Fondue, with a French Onion Soup Twist

[thebookpile]

I picked out a fondue recipe from a book my brother gave me years ago. I love French onion soup and this recipe was inspired by it. From the book:

"Are you one of those people (like me) whose favorite part of a bowl of French onion soup is the melted cheese on top?"

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup beef stock (we just used Campbell's beef broth and it worked fine for our purposes)
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded (discard rind)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Cognac or brandy (we used just the basic St. Remy brandy)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 and 1/2 fresh thyme)
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. In medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until dark golden brown (about 10 minutes). Add wine, stock, and vinegar then bring to a simmer.
2. In medium bowl, toss cheese with flour. Add cheese to onion mixture in saucepan one handful at a time, stirring first addition until melted before adding the next. Allow fondue to bubble slightly a few times but do not bring to a boil.
3. Stir in Cognac (or brandy) and thyme, then season with pepper.
4. Transfer to fondue pot and keep warm over burner.
5. Dip bread cubes from a bagette and/or slices of apple (tossed with lemon juice, to prevent browning)

The Missus loved it. Absolutely loved it. So did I (I mean, it's French onion soup in fondue form - what's not to like?).

The recipe says it gives 4 to 6 servings. That's a lie. It makes two servings. Trying to share this amount with more than two or three people will result in a fistfight.