Dippin' Dinner

Last night we had a Dippin' Dinner.  Everything had to be dipped.  The kids loved it.  It was one of those nights where I didn't have to beg, plead, threaten even one time!  Gawd, I LOVE those nights!!!  Our menu was Cheese Fondue and we dipped bread and apples into it, Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce, and of course Chocolate Fondue for dessert.   My mom gave me this Rachael Ray fondue pot before she moved and I finally got around to using it.  Actually I didn't have any of the alcohol stuff you use to make the fire beneath it, so I just heated it on the stove first and then served it at the table.  Safer that way with the kids, I think, anyway.

I used this copy-cat recipe for the cheese fondue that is supposed to be just like The Melting Pot's.  I heard that the secret ingredient is to use Pabst's Blue Ribbon for the beer.  Well, that's not what we had, I used Mic Ultra.  But I used really cheap swiss cheese (ie. kroger brand!) and I think it would  have been so much better had I splurged on some decent Swiss.  Oh well, it was just for the family....  I mean it was good, who doesn't love melted cheese on bread?  It just wasn't as good as TMP.  ;)

Chicken Sate
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (or you could save a little time and use chicken breast tenders)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
12 6-inch wooden skewers (I used chopsticks, because that is what I had!)
2 tbsp olive oil
Spicy Peanut Sauce (below)

1.  Rinse chicken, pat dry.  Trim excess fat.  Season all sides with S & P.  Slice chicken length-wise into 12 strips, then place each piece on a skewer.
2.  In a saute pan, heat oil over med-high heat.  Saute 5-6 minutes or until chicken is cooked.  [I actually grilled them on a grill pan since I was using long chop sticks--they didn't fit in any of my pans.]  I grilled them in batches and kept the done ones in the oven on warm.
3.  Served with Peanut Sauce below:

Spicy Peanut Sauce
1/2 olive oil
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup coconut milk (sold in a can in specialty food aisle)
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp chopped shallot (I left out)
1 tbsp honey
pinch of red pepper flakes (I also left out)

1.  Heat olive oil in sauce pan.  Add remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth and heated through.  Makes a lot-- 3.5 cups.
I just poured a little bit of the peanut sauce into small bowls and we dipped our chicken in it.  The boys loved it.

For the Chocolate fondue, I melted half a bag of chocolate chips with 1/3 cup of heavy cream and a half of cup of marshmallows.  Served it with cake chunks, bananas, and large marshmallows.  It was a little thick, might want to thin it out with more heavy cream.

Even if you didn't  have a fondue pot, you could easily just heat these things over low-med heat in a saucepan.


Tonight: LEFTOVERS! :)