Fondue (© Margouillat | Dreamstime.com)

Written by Linda West Eckhardt, Everybody Eats News

Seems like fall got here in one day, and it came to us here in the Northeast with a blustery blow and a drenching rain. Enough already! From one moment to the next we went from shorts and tanks, to sweats and socks. Sigh. Mother nature never fails to surprise.

And so, with that, I turn my thoughts to Autumn recipes. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get to know Parrano cheese, a Dutch cheese with rootsgoing way back to Italy. It’s only been made in Holland a short time, say about hundred years. Before that it was made in Parrano, Italy. duh.

The flavor of the cheese is bold and assertive, like Parmigiano, but it is aged a mere 5-1/2 months, and has a gouda-like texture, which means that it shreds, it flakes, it melts. It does all the tricks.

That and the weather made me think of fondues, an old idea that is gaining traction again in the world. With the Craft beer craze bubbling up, and this noble cheese – well priced and readily available nationwide – try Whole Foods, I decided to make myself a fondue last night. One quick trip to Whole Foods, a stop at the liquor store, I had some Farmer’s market organic New York state apples (the best) on hand as well as a half loaf of a good artisan bread, some left over boiled new potatoes I had dug from the garden the day before, and some celery sticks. Dinner was shaping up.

At the Wine Library, in Short Hills, I got a quick primer on the new craft beers and came home with George Schneider’s Wiesen Edel-Weisse Ale, a USDA organic beer, fermented in the bottle but brewed in Germany. It was so delicious, I didn’t know whether to drink it, put it into the recipe, or simply pour it over my head and lick my face. It is that yummy. OK. I bought a six pack so we could do everything.

But pairing this German ale with Parrano, the bold Dutch cheese, and segmenting those New York state apples, new potatoes, bites of good bread, and celery sticks, it made a mighty fine supper after being blown hither and thither on New York City streets yesterday. Plus it was quick and easy to do.

I no longer own a Fondue pot – that went long ago in a garage sale – but this can be made in any heavy bottomed medium pot, that you carry to the fireplace in your living room. Serve it right from the pot. Yum.

Wiesen Edel-Weisse Ale & Parrano Cheese Fondue with New York State Apples

Ingredients for 6 Servings

• 16 Ounces shredded Parrano cheese
• 1/2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup Wiesen Edel-Weisse ale, at room temperature (can substitute other medium ales)
• 1 Teaspoon Coleman’s dry mustard

Preparation

In a bowl combine grated cheese and flour; mix well to coat cheese with flour. Set aside. In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, bring ale to a simmer over medium low heat. Add cheese-flour mixture by handfuls to the saucepan, stirring constantly after each addition with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight motion until the cheese is melted. When cheese is nearly all melted, stir in the dry mustard, mixing well. Serve immediately with dipping wedges of crisp fall apples, chunks of best quality artisan bread, boiled new potatoes, and/or celery slices.

That and a glass of German ale? Now that’s comfort.

(This article was previously published on Everybody Eats News.)

Linda West Eckhardt

About the Author

Linda West Eckhardt, is an award winning journalist, food writer, and nutritionist. Her more than 20 cookbooks have garnered prizes including the James Beard prize for the best cookbook for a text she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Their next book, The High Protein Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, remains a best seller after 12 years.

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