Cheese Fondue

1/2 pound Fontina
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 garlic clove, peeled, halved crosswise
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon kirsch (cherry brandy)
Pinch nutmeg

Place the shredded cheese and cornstarch in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Set aside.Rub the inside of a 4-quart pot with the garlic, then discard. Over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the wine. Stir constantly in a zig-zag pattern to prevent the cheese from seizing and balling up. Cook until the cheese is just melted and creamy. Do not let boil. Once smooth, stir in kirsch and nutmeg.Transfer the cheese to a fondue serving pot, set over a flame to keep warm. Other cheese options: I like Gruyere at all times, but Jarlsberg or Ementaller instead of Fontina are great.Serves 4.

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This one comes from my brother, he made it a while ago when we were over his apartment. I had never had cheese fondue made in a classic style before, with wine and kirsch, since my parents are teetotalers. When they made it it was just melted cheese. Nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't the same as this. This was unreal. Let's just get right to it shall we?

Here is what you'll need, sans hardware. We've got some Gruyere, Fontina, kirsch, white wine, salt and of course good crusty bread. In keeping with my theme of never getting pictures of everything, not pictured are lemon juice and corn starch. The bread should be cubed, but you should make sure to have some crust on each piece. Crust is key, without it the chunks won't stay on the fork. Now, we'll want some shredded cheese. Ah yeah, that's the stuff. Almost. There we go. That's half the cheese we need. Excited yet? Heh. Now it's tossed with the cornstarch (it helps keep it smooth) and set it aside. Rub down a sauce pot with some garlic (I think my brother referred to this as "blessing"). Now pour in the wine and lemon juice and heat it up to a gentle simmer. The wine was Groth Sauvignon Blanc and while I don't have my usual dealie about it I do highly recommend it, it was really good. Oh and note, nothing should ever, ever boil in this recipe. That will break the cheese and you really don't want that, it will ruin the texture. Add the cheese, a bit at a time to the wine, stirring constantly in a zig zag pattern. Once all the cheese is in and it's nice and smooth add the kirsch and nutmeg. This was my first time trying kirsch and I noticed an odd thing about it. It's brandy, right? Made from cherries? But it tastes like tequila. It was good, don't get me wrong, I just found that weird. Anyway, the fondue is done, transfer it to a fondue pot and have at it. We did bread, but I was thinking this would be good with vegetables too. Broccoli, pepper chunks, whatever you think would go well with a pound of melted cheese. Hell, chunks of roast beef or ham would be awesome too. Now I've mentioned my girlfriend doesn't really eat cheese, so she had some turkey balls that I didn't get a picture of. But what was also wicked good was dipping the bread in the fondue and then into the tomato sauce from the meatballs. Good times kids.