Comfort Food on a Snowed-In Day: Beef Bourguignon and 100% Whole Wheat Bread

We woke up this morning to a beautiful world of winter white! The kids’ only complaint: that it happened on a Saturday.

After spending several hours digging our driveway out from the storm (no snow-blowers here), I was ready to warm up the house (and me) with some good old-fashioned comfort food. Beef Bourguignon and some Whole Wheat Bread were just what I needed. This had to wait, of course, until I was done helping kids in and out of snow clothes half-a-dozen times during the day (and mopping up puddles of melted snow). And making lots and lots of hot cocoa!

I know you are thinking that this is just a glorified beef stew, but it is so much more! This Beef Bourguignon is packed with flavor, and is thick and hearty, just begging for a slice of bread to mop up all of the leftover goodness in the bottom of your bowl.

And did I mention bacon?

Some of the heartiness (and tons of flavor) in this stew comes from first cooking some (okay, a lot) of chopped bacon in your stock pot. Remove the cooked bacon (to be added back later, of course), drain most of the bacon grease, leaving a couple of tablespoons in the bottom of the pot to brown your beef cubes in. I used some leftover roast beef from a few nights ago. Brown it up nicely in those bacon drippings and then add some mushrooms and onions.

I like to remove most of the alcohol from the red wine, so I add it first, and then reduce it almost dry before adding in the rest of the liquids.

Stir in some broth, tomato paste and seasonings and let it simmer for an hour or two to get your beef nice and tender.

Add carrots, potatoes and celery and continue cooking until those vegetables are tender. Add some cherry tomatoes just before serving. They will soften perfectly just from the heat of the stew. Adding them too early will turn them to mush, and you’ll just have floating tomato skins in your bowl.

Waiting (patiently? not-so-patiently?) for mom to snap a few pictures before serving dinner!

After a long day of fun in the snow, a good hearty bowl of stew sure hits the spot!

RECIPES:

Beef Bourguignon

1/2 pkg (8 oz) bacon, chopped
3 lb beef roast, cubed
1 pkg (8 oz) whole mushrooms
1 ½ cups red wine
4 cups beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs tapioca
1 cup pearl onions, or 1 onion, diced
2 potatoes, peeled & diced
2 carrots, peeled & diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Cook bacon in a large pot. Remove from pan when cooked. Drain most of the grease, leaving about 2 Tbs in the pot. Brown the beef cubes in the bacon drippings. Add mushrooms (quartered if they are large) and chopped onion (if you are using pearl onions, wait and add them with the potatoes later). Cook for about 5 minutes, or until onions and mushrooms just begin to brown.

Add the wine and let wine reduce for 10-15 minutes, or until almost completely evaporated. Add cooked bacon, beef broth, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, tomato paste, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, pepper, salt, tapioca and pearl onions. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1- 1 ½ hours.

Stir in potatoes, carrots and celery. Add additional water if stew is too thick. Cook until vegetables are tender. Taste and add additional salt, if necessary. Add tomatoes 5 minutes before serving. Remove bay leaf.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and hot bread.

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yield: 3 medium loaves (or 2 large) or 3 dozen rolls

2 ½ cups warm water
2 eggs
1 Tbs molasses
4 Tbs honey
¼ cup olive oil
5 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat gluten
¼ cup dry milk
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs instant yeast ***
1 ½ – 2 cups additional whole wheat flour

Mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients. Mix in enough additional flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead 5-6 minutes.

Divide dough into 3 greased medium-sized loaf pans (or 2 large). Brush with additional oil, cover and let rise until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 °F for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pans; cool.

TO MAKE ROLLS: Shape into desired shapes. Place on greased pans; brush with oil, cover and let rise until doubled in size. For a shiny roll: brush with slightly beaten egg white just before baking. Bake at 375 °F for 15 minutes.

***Note: If using instant yeast, the dough only needs to rise once (in the pans). If using regular yeast, allow dough to rise before putting in pans, then rise again in pans before baking.

Mediterranean Frittata

I have a confession to make: I don’t really like eggs. I have a really hard time choking down a plate of plain scrambled or fried eggs. If you add a few slices of toast and a jar of salsa, I can get through them. Or I’m even happier if those raw eggs are mixed with some butter, sugar, flour and chocolate chips before baking: that is my kind of eggs!

But while I don’t like eggs, I do love quiche. Something to do with all of that cheese, cream and bacon hiding the egg flavor (and texture). So this frittata (crustless egg casserole) is right up my alley: it is chock-full of non-egg tasting ingredients. Artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, spinach, feta cheese. Not a plain bite of egg to be found!

I made a large 9×13” casserole, so that I could eat it for breakfast all week (and maybe even share a square or two), but you could easily halve the recipe below and bake it in a square 8×8” pan.

This could also be prepared the night before, refrigerated, and then baked in the morning for an easy, delicious holiday breakfast. And Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.

The extra Parmesan cheese on top is optional, but I always go for maximum cheese with my eggs.

It bakes up nice and puffy, with delicious browned cheese bits on top.

A fabulous, healthy, non-egg-tasting, high-protein start to your day!

RECIPE:

Mediterranean Frittata
______(Adapted from TwoPeasandTheirPod)

18 eggs
16 oz container cottage cheese
1 cup (about 4 oz) crumbled feta cheese
2 tsp Greek seasoning**
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 (15 oz) cans/jars artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
3 oz pkg sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives (optional)
1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until well combined. Stir in cottage cheese, feta cheese, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in a medium pan. Sauté the onion until soft. Add garlic and spinach. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.

Combine spinach mixture with chopped artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and parsley. Stir to combine (this will help cool the spinach before adding it to the egg mixture). Stir vegetables into eggs.

Spray a 9×13” casserole dish with non-stick baking spray. Pour egg mixture into pan. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using.

Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes, or until set in center. Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

**NOTE: I get my Greek Seasoning from Penzeys, but you could also substitute a combination of oregano and marjoram.

Last Minute Dinners: Salsa Chicken (and a Mexican Coleslaw)

Looking for something quick, easy and delicious to throw together for a last-minute dinner? This Salsa Chicken has been the answer to many of my “Oh no! It’s 5 o’clock already! What am I going to cook tonight?” dilemmas.

Simply brown some chicken breasts (generously seasoning with garlic powder, cumin and chili powder).

Mix together a jar of taco sauce or salsa with just a little cocoa powder and cinnamon and pour over your chicken. (since there is a lot of sauce with this dish, I use a mild or medium variety of taco sauce/salsa) Cover and cook about 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in some chopped cilantro.

Top with cheese – Provolone is my favorite, but I also use Swiss, cheddar or Muenster if I don’t have any provolone.

Let the cheese melt and serve with rice. We like Vigo brand “Yellow Rice”, a mild saffron flavored Spanish rice.

And if you are organized enough to plan ahead for this dinner, this Mexican Lime & Cilantro Coleslaw goes really well with it:

The coleslaw goes together really quickly if you use a prepackaged coleslaw mix. The pre-planning just comes in the grocery shopping part.

RECIPES:

Salsa Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts, trimmed
1 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 ½ cups taco sauce or salsa
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs (or more) chopped fresh cilantro
4-6 slices Provolone or Swiss cheese

Heat oil in skillet; add chicken. Sprinkle with cumin, chili powder and garlic powder (I don’t usually measure these spices; I just sprinkle them on both sides of the chicken). Cook until chicken is browned on both sides. Combine salsa, cocoa and cinnamon. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook about 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in cilantro.

Just before serving, top each chicken piece with a slice of cheese. Cover and let cheese just begin to melt. Serve over rice (our favorite is Vigo brand “Yellow Rice”, a Spanish saffron flavored rice).

..

Mexican Lime & Cilantro Coleslaw
(adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)

1 bag coleslaw mix
5 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T fresh lime juice, (about half of a large lime)
red or green Tabasco sauce to taste (I use 5 “shakes”)
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper (or to taste)

Combine coleslaw mix, green onions and cilantro.

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings. Mix dressing into cabbage mixture.

Serve immediately, or chill for a few hours.

A Little Burst of Winter Sunshine: Orange-Ginger Glazed Carrots

There is nothing like bright colorful vegetables on a cold dreary winter day to bring a little sunshine in.

With fresh orange juice and grated ginger, these baby carrots are sure to brighten up even the most miserable day.

RECIPE:

Orange-Ginger Glazed Carrots

1 lb baby carrots (or medium carrots, peeled and sliced)
1 Tbs butter
1 orange, juiced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 tsp fresh grated orange peel
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 tsp coarse kosher salt

Roast or steam carrots until tender. Set aside.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; boil 1 minute. Stir in carrots and cook for 2 minutes.

Chicken Stir-Fry in Peanut Sauce

Stir-fries are a great way to use up small amounts of vegetables left in your crisper. That stray half of a bell pepper, or 6 lonely mushrooms starting to wilt. Such was the state of my refrigerator when I made this stir-fry. I had small amounts of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, pea pods and red pepper that needed to be used up or tossed out. And I just hate throwing food away.

The key to a good stir-fry (tender chicken and crisp vegetables) is to cut EVERYTHING before you start cooking. And get the sauce mixed ahead of time too. I am always tempted to save a few dishes by cutting and adding directly to the wok as I go, but this never ends well. Something always ends up mushy and overcooked.

Start by cutting your vegetables into bite-sized pieces and setting aside. You will need to add them separately to the wok, so you can either use separate bowls for them (which I avoid-again, the extra dishes) or one large bowl. If you are using one large bowl, add the vegetables to the bowl in the reverse order that you will add them to the wok: pea pods and cabbage first (as they will cook the quickest), carrots and broccoli last (as they will take longer to cook). Place a layer of plastic wrap or waxed paper in between your layers for easy removal of vegetables from the bowl to the skillet.

Cut chicken into very thin slices and set aside.

Stir together sauce mix and set aside.

Heat a little oil in the bottom of a wok or large skillet. Start with your longest cooking veges. I add the broccoli first, saute for 2-3 minutes, or until bright green, then add about 2 Tbs water, put the lid on for about 2 minutes and let it steam. Remove to a serving bowl. Add a little more oil and start adding additional vegetables. If you are making a large amount, cook in small batches, removing cooked vegetables to the serving bowl when they are still crisp (just barely tender-a little under-cooked is best).

Once all of the vegetables are cooked and removed from the pan, add a little additional oil and cook chicken over high heat until tender. The chicken is mixed first with some curry paste (I like red) and ginger before cooking. Adjust heat or find a lid if the chicken splatters a lot.

Stir sauce mixture into chicken and cook until thickened slightly. This sauce has a soy and peanut butter base with some red curry paste.

Stir the vegetables back into the pan and cook just until heated through. Serve immediately over hot rice.

RECIPE:

Chicken Stir-Fry in Peanut Sauce
(adapted from Glutenfreegoddess)

2-3 Tbs olive oil or coconut oil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 large red bell pepper, sliced thinly
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 cups thinly shredded cabbage
1 cup sliced mushrooms
Handful of snow pea pods
1  onion, diced
4 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2-3 tsp curry paste, hot or mild, to taste (I use red curry paste)
1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves of garlic, minced

Peanut Sauce:
1  cup hot chicken broth
¼ cup smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbs fresh lime juice (about half of a lime)
1 pkt Stevia (or 1 tsp sugar)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, adjust to taste
1 Tbs cornstarch + 2 Tbs water, mixed

**NOTE: Vegetable types are adjustable based on what you have on hand (or what your family will eat).

Mix together sauce ingredients. Set aside. Cut vegetables and chicken and set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs oil over high heat in a wok or large skillet. Cook the vegetables in small batches until crisp-tender (but slightly undercooked). Remove from pan and set aside.

Stir curry paste and ginger into sliced chicken. Add 1 Tbs additional oil to hot wok. Stir in chicken and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook 1 additional minute.

Add sauce mixture (stir first to incorporate cornstarch) to pan with the chicken. Cook until slightly thickened. Return vegetables to pan and heat through.

Serve over white or brown rice.

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges with Cilantro Yogurt Dip

Sweet potatoes make a fairly frequent appearance at our dinner table. Baked (then slathered in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar) is one of our favorite ways. Also chopped and roasted with a mix of other vegetables. As a side note: the one way it does NOT appear on my table is mashed and mixed with tons of sugar and then topped with those little marshmallows. Ick! I know it is a Thanksgiving favorite for many people, just not me.

This recipe we also really enjoy. I like it even more than the baked sweet potatoes. It is a savory presentation, but it comes with dip, and who doesn’t love dip! They end up crispy on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside.

Another thing I love: minimal clean-up. I mix the sliced potato wedges in a ziploc bag with olive oil and spices and have Little J toss them around a little (she LOVES mixing/squishing things in ziploc bags). Then pour onto a foil-lined baking sheet, arrange in a single layer, bake and serve. Just one not very messy baking sheet to wipe down.

Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt or kosher salt and serve with or without dip. We like to eat them with a cilantro yogurt dip. It makes a nice contrast with the natural sweetness of the potatoes.

Recipe:

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges with Cilantro Yogurt Dip

4-6 Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into about 8 wedges each
Olive oil: 1-2 Tbs per potato
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
1/4 tsp each of the following:
garlic powder
black pepper
coriander
ancho chili powder (or cayenne, but use less; ancho peppers are much milder than cayenne)

Mix potatoes, oil and seasonings in a Ziploc bag. Mix well. Spread onto a foil-lined baking sheet. Arrange potato wedges in a single layer. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, turning once. Sprinkle with additional coarse salt while hot. Serve with Cilantro Yogurt Dip, if desired.

Cilantro Yogurt Dip
1 cup plain yogurt
3 Tbs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs fresh mint, chopped (optional, but really good!)
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together. Chill 1-2 hours in refrigerator to blend flavors. Taste; adjust salt to taste. Serve.

For a thicker dip: start with about 1 1/2 cups yogurt and strain in a cheesecloth-lined colander to remove excess whey from yogurt.

Zucchini Boats with Turkey Sausage

One of my resolutions for the year is probably the same as at least half of the rest of the women in this country: to lose weight. My goal is pretty specific however, and has nothing to do with pounds, involves no commercialized diet plan, or even involves such vague undefinable goals like “eating healthier” or “exercising more”. My goal has to do with inches: I want to lose 1/2-inch (and I may be satisfied with about 1/4-inch). Pretty ambitious, don’t you think?

The kicker comes in where I want this 1/4” – 1/2” to come from. I need it to come from the ring finger of my left hand. So that I can remove the wedding rings from my finger! Not that I want to keep them off, it would just be nice to BE ABLE to take them off – for cleaning and such. So if anyone has any sure-fire finger-fat-shrinking diet they would like to share, I am open for suggestions!

Until then, I will have to stick with those unmeasurable methods of eating healthier (I am taking the “whole food, very limited sugar/refined starch” approach) and exercising more. We have always eaten a mostly whole foods diet, but I am going to be much more diligent about the exceptions that I allow myself to eat (like the cookies and desserts that filled my life over the holidays). I’ll let you know when I reach my goal, or my rings completely cut off all circulation to my finger.

Zucchini Boats with Turkey Sausage

This recipe, from Simply Recipes, turned out to be both super healthy and a new family favorite (probably because no one could tell just how many vegetables were packed into that filling-Hurray for the food processor). Most of them even ate the zucchini boat! Which actually surprised me, as we have only one admitted-squash-liking child.

The zucchini I used were pretty long, so I cut them in half both length-wise and width-wise. This also made for better kid-sized portions. Just be sure to leave part of the shell on both ends when you are scooping. A small melon-baller worked great for scooping out the insides. I softened these “boats”  slightly before filling by brushing with olive oil, sprinkling with s&p and microwaving for 2 minutes.

The turkey sausage filling is made using ground turkey, onion, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini-insides, seasonings and Parmesan cheese (I kept that a secret from Big A, as well). I chopped all of the vegetables, except the tomatoes, in the food processor so that they would not be recognized. This is not a dish that it would be easy to pick out more coarsely chopped mushrooms and squash bits. Once my home is occupied by fewer picky eaters, I will keep those veges more chunky. They would provide a nice texture.

But for now, the food processor is my friend.

The turkey filling is pre-cooked, then cooled and mixed with an egg and the cheese. Not being a patient dinner preparer, I flash-cooled the pan of turkey filling outside on my deck full of snow. I just set the pan, straight off of the burner into the 6 inches of snow that had collected. It quickly sank quite a ways into the snow, but it did cool off mighty quick!

Fill your zucchini shells and bake about 45 minutes, until browned. The crispy browned pieces of filling were especially delicious, so don’t take it out of the oven too soon!

In fact, the browned bits were so good that I broiled the extra filling until most of it was brown and crispy (thinking that the original amounts would not feed our whole family, I made much more filling than I ended up needing) and made a breakfast casserole with it the next morning.

RECIPE:

Zucchini Boats with Turkey Sausage
(Adapted from Simply Recipes)

2 zucchini
about 4 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 lb ground turkey
2 Tbs white wine
2 diced tomatoes (I used 1/2 of a well drained can of diced tomatoes)
3 Tbs chopped fresh basil
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides (a melon-baller works great here), leaving about 1/4 inch of the shell on all sides. Chop zucchini insides; set aside. Place zucchini shells in a glass baking dish and brush insides of zucchini with a very small amount of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Microwave for 2 minutes to soften zucchini slightly.

(For my vegetable-adverse children, I chopped the onion, garlic, mushrooms and zucchini-insides in a food processor)

Heat 1-2 Tbs oil in a large skillet. Sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms until tender. Add zucchini-insides and cook until tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat an additional 1-2 Tbs oil in the same skillet. Add the turkey and cook until browned. Drain any fat. Add wine and stir to deglaze pan. Stir in onion/mushroom mixture, tomatoes, basil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.

Stir Parmesan cheese and then egg into cooled turkey mixture. Fill zucchini shells.

Bake, uncovered, at 375°F for 45 minutes, or until well browned. Serve hot.

Beef and Broccoli

After fabulous holidays full of rich, sugar-laden foods, it is time to get back to some healthier cuisine around here.

A stir-fry is one of my favorite ways to make a quick, healthy meal that no one turns their nose up at. This one is especially quick as the meat does not need to be marinated ahead of time.

I usually make this with just beef and broccoli, but I had a lone zucchini hanging out in the crisper just begging to be used as well.  So for dinner tonight, we have Beef & Broccoli (with a little zucchini thrown in for fun).

Cut fresh broccoli (and any other lonely veges you want to include) into bite-sized pieces. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 1-2 Tbs oil. Add vegetables to hot oil and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, until broccoli has turned a bright green, but is not cooked through. Remove from wok and set aside.

Slice a flank steak into very thin slices. This is easier if the steak is just slightly frozen. If the steak is really wide, you can cut it half first and then cut thin slices.

Add a little more oil to your pan and cook the steak slices over high heat until browned. Season with garlic powder and black pepper while cooking. If you are cooking a lot of meat, or using a smaller pan, cook the meat in small batches. Try to maintain a single layer in the bottom of the pan so that it will cook evenly.

Stir together sauce ingredients and add to pan, stirring until sauce just begins to thickens. I don’t like the sauce to be too thick. If you like more of a gravy consistency, just add more cornstarch to the sauce mix.

Stir in broccoli. Cook 1-2 minutes, or until broccoli is heated through. Keep the veges crisp, not mushy!

Serve over white or brown rice.

STIR-FRY COOKING TIP: Chop all of your ingredients and stir together the sauce mixture BEFORE you start any cooking. Then you will be sure to not overcook anything while doing prep work.

RECIPE:

Beef and Broccoli

2-4 Tbs peanut oil or olive oil, divided
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 flank steak or skirt steak
ground black pepper
garlic powder

Sauce:
½ cup soy sauce
¾ cup chicken broth
1 Tbs cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1-2 tsp chile paste
½ tsp Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet
2 Tbs toasted sesame oil

Chop broccoli into bite-sized florets; set aside. Cut steak in very thin slices (Partially freezing steak beforehand will make this easier); set aside. Combine sauce ingredients; set aside.

Heat 1-2 Tbs oil in a wok or large skillet. Add broccoli and cook for 3-4 minutes, until broccoli has turned a bright green, but is not cooked through. Remove from wok and set aside.

Add an additional 1-2 Tbs oil to wok. Add beef (in small batches) to pan. Sprinkle with ground black pepper and garlic powder. Stir-fry until tender. Drain excess moisture from pan, if necessary. Add sauce to pan and cook for about one minute, until it just starts to thicken. Stir in broccoli and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

Serve over hot rice.

New Year’s Beauties!

Big A and her friends M & A started off the New Year with a homemade beauty treatment (Apples & Honey)!

If I thought there was any hope that I’d end up as beautiful as these young ladies, I might actually try it myself!

Dessert Fondues

_______

Chocolate and Vanilla Dessert Fondues: what other way could you possibly end an All-Dipping-All-Day Christmas? (Actually, next year I’m thinking butterscotch might be fun to try)

The best part (other than the actual eating) is how simple they are to put together at the last minute. The dipping items: fruit and other not so healthy items, can be prepared ahead of time. And it look less than 10 minutes to make both of the fondue mixtures.

It would be hard to do a day of fondue without ending it with a chocolate fondue. This was definitely everyone’s favorite dish (except Little A, but he was perfectly happy with his vanilla version).

I made a Dark Chocolate Fondue, but you could easily adjust that based on what kind of chocolate you use. The recipe is embarrassingly simple: heat some heavy cream in the microwave, pour it over some chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet), add some vanilla and a dash of salt and stir.

The Vanilla Custard Fondue was only slightly more complicated, as it did require a pan on the stove. For this fondue, I adapted a simple stirred custard recipe. Normally it would be cooked, chilled and eaten as a pudding, but it was great warm as a fondue. The custard is made by combining beaten eggs, cream, milk, sugar and a vanilla bean and cooking until the mixture thickens.

I used two mini crock pots to serve these fondues.

What to dip in dessert fondues? What can’t you dip!

Fresh fruit is an obvious great choice (strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos), but don’t stop there. We also used some dried fruit (apricots are fabulous!). And then there are the not-so-healthy dipping items: cakes (pound cake or angel food cake), unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, and everyone’s favorite: mini cream puffs!

Recipes:

Dark Chocolate Fondue

3/4 cup heavy cream
6 oz (about 1 cup chips) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla
Dash salt

Heat cream in the microwave for one minute (or on the stove for about 5 minutes). Pour over chocolate. Let stand one minute. Add salt and vanilla and stir until melted. Pour into a mini crock pot or fondue pot. Serve with Dipping Items.

Dipping Items:
Fresh or dried fruit: strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos, apricots
Pound cake or angel food cake, unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, mini cream puffs

Vanilla Custard Fondue

3 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 of a vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds. Add bean and seeds with remaining ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove vanilla bean. (Add vanilla extract at the end of cooking if not using vanilla bean) Pour custard into a fondue pot or mini crock pot. Serve with Dipping Items.

Dipping Items:
Fresh or dried fruit: strawberries, kiwi, bananas, melon, pineapple, mangos, apricots
Pound cake or angel food cake, unfrosted sugar cookies or shortbread cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, pretzels, mini cream puffs