Spinach Artichoke Fondue

How is your 2015 so far? I hope all is going well with you. I am blogging in Las Vegas right now. Bryan and I come to Vegas every year for CES (Consumer Electronics Show). Bryan comes for work and I tag along to enjoy a food heaven getaway.

Counting back, we realized this is our 7th CES. We can really call ourselves veterans now. CES is a huge event. All major tech companies come over to announce and display their future plans, latest products and gadgets. If you want to a quick browse of everything, it will take you at least 2 days to finish. So many vendors and too many products.

Over the years, we have learned many tricks and tips to survive, like discovering the fastest walking route from Harrah’s monorail station to Venetian, carrying a bottle of water with us at all time, and bringing the most comfortable walking shoes.

There are many interesting memories. One year, we were transporting a 50-inch flat screen TV from Las Vegas Hotel (previously Hilton Las Vegas) to Bellagio. Just the 2 of us, a rolling cart and a car. As you know, Vegas hotels are huge and require lots of walking. We were running down crowded hotels’ lobbies and hallways with a giant TV. Definitely some craziness… Another year, we were dining in Benihana. We happened to sit in the same table with the son of MTX audio. He ended up paying for everyone’s dinner. That was awesome!

CES is always the 1st event for us when reaches a new year. We love it, but we hate it. The days of walking can be really tiring. It is one of those things you kind of hate it when doing it, but will sure miss it if not doing it.

Back to food and recipe! This fabulous cheese fondue will be a great start for a cold winter. Gooey melting cheese with garlic, spinach and artichoke. Dip some bread in it. That was really satisfying. If Bryan and I can, we could really can eat this all day.

This fondue was inspired by The Melting Pot. Whenever we go to The Melting Pot, the Spinach and Artichoke fondue is the one we eat. It has tons of flavors and definitely much more interesting than a traditional cheese fondue. Although this recipe isn’t the exact one from The Melting Pot, the flavors were amazing and you really won’t notice the difference.

Bryan gave me this fondue set when we first started dating. It has been almost 10 years, and we have only used it once before. If you have a fondue set at home, I urge you to take it out and try this recipe. You will not regret it. If you don’t have a set, maybe think of getting one? It is so much fun to do fondue at home with your loved ones! If you don’t have one and don’t want one, you can still make this! Use a medium ramekin, a metal rack and a tea light. It should do the trick. Have fun and enjoy!

Spinach Artichoke Fondue (Adapted from I Wash… You Dry)

2 – 4 servings

Ingredients:

–   1 cup Gruyère cheese (shredded)

–   1 cup low moisture Mozzarella (shredded)

–   ½ cup Parmesan cheese (shredded)

–   2 teaspoons flour

–   2/3 cup dry white wine

–   2 tablespoons garlic (minced)

–   1½ baby spinach (chopped)

–   2/3 cup artichoke hearts (drained and finely chopped)

–   Few drops of Tabasco

–   1½ cup baby carrots

–   1 cup broccoli (cut into 1-inch florets)

–   1 cup cauliflower (cut into 1-inch florets)

–   1/3 loaf French bread (cut into ½-inch cubes)

–   1 Granny Smith apple (cut into ½-inch cubes)

Directions:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, blanch the carrots for 3 minutes, and broccoli and cauliflower for 2 minutes. Drain. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all the cheeses. Add flour and toss until evenly coated. Set aside.
3. In a small pot over medium-high heat, add the white wine and garlic. Bring to a boil. Add spinach and artichokes. Cook until spinach is wilted, stirring continuously. Add the cheeses and continue to cook until cheeses are melted and smooth, stirring continuously. Add a few drops of Tabasco. Transfer half of the mixture to a fondue pot. Cover and keep the rest over low heat.
4. Serve the cheese fondue immediately with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, bread and apple. Stir the cheese every once a while.

Tips:

1. I made half of the recipe last time for the 2 of us. We felt that it wasn’t enough, so I double the recipe here. If you really love cheese, this amount should be good for 2 of you. If you just want this as a small appetizer, this should feed 4 people.
2. To make it easy, I bought a bag of pre-washed broccoli and cauliflower. Why go through all those troubles for little bit of veggies, right?
3. I don’t like raw carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, so I blanched them. If you prefer raw veggies, just skip step 1.

Source: Read