Fondue Part 2
After finishing a somewhat heavy cheese course, the kids usually run off to play and work up another appetite and the grown ups get to chat and prepare the next phase of the dinner: seafood broth fondue. This course of fondue is friendly to all sorts of dietary restrictions. It’s already dairy free and it’s easy to make gluten free, or vegetarian. It’s even Wahl’s Protocol, Whole 30 and Paleo friendly.
My family enjoys cooking our seafood and veggies in flavorful broth and then dipping the pieces in Yum Yum Sauce or Lemon Teryaki Dip which were prepared earlier in the day, or even the day before.
I do always use a fondue pot for this course, and I prefer an electric pot that I can set the temperature. I haven’t tested, nor do I specifically endorse, any electric fondue pots. I can say that the Cuisinart one I have seems to do the job nicely. We run an extension cord so the pot can sit in the middle of the table without worry of pulling and then we get the broth and other ingredients up to a nice slow boil before setting out the seafood and calling the crew back to the table. I would advise that you set a pot or kettle of water to simmer on the stove to add water to the broth as needed throughout the cooking process. Whenever the pot is looking a little low, add the already heated water and no one has to wait or worry!
Using seafood with kids is much easier than meats. We have less worry of bacteria and issues with under cooking. Shrimp and lobster turn color, fish gets flaky, and raw veggies can be eaten raw or returned to the pot and cooked longer without too much issue.
Kids love to pick out the types of seafood at the store as well as what they will be putting on their plate, and they are always excited to be in control of cooking their food. I think it must make them feel very grown up.
For this course, we always have peeled and deveined shrimp. Other favorites include salmon, halibut, cod, and (of course) lobster tail. To make it easy on myself, I again rely on Whole Foods as they have a fish counter and will remove the skin as well as cut the fish and lobster tail into bit size pieces for me. This saves me a lot of time and trouble at home. We have done scallops before and they are good, but they don’t make the favorites list at our house. For the vegetables, I par boil or lightly steam little colored potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, and zucchini. Mushrooms are great too and there’s no need to partially cook those.
To help with germs when managing raw foods with kids, we have them put the raw ingredients in a bowl separate from their plates. We also give each person little dipping bowls with portions of their dips of choice. This allows for double dipping without consequence. No adult wants to spend their lovely fondue evening correcting kids for double dipping veggies. And some of us adults like an occasional double dip ourselves!
The last couple of times we have done fondue, we have also added a tempura/fried option. That will be in the next post! Happy Dipping!
Seafood Broth Fondue
Course: Main8
servings10
minutesThis recipe is adapted from: bestfondue.com
Ingredients
4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tbsp dry white wine
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into slices
3 Tbsp soy sauce (use gluten free soy sauce if trying to stay GF- or coconut aminos if avoiding soy)
pinch of ground pepper
optional: 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
3 cups simmering water, to add as needed during cooking
For dipping: 1/3-1/2 pound of seafood per person cut into bite size pieces. Variety of partially cooked vegetables.
optional: dipping sauces (tartar, yum yum, cocktail, lemon teriyaki)
Directions
- Add chicken stock through Worcestershire sauce to fondue pot.
- Bring to a low boil.
- Cook your seafood and veggies while simmering.
- Add the simmering water to the pot as needed while cooking. You’ll know you need to add the water when the level of the broth is getting too low to easily have multiple skewers cooking.