Fondue for Two: Surf and Turf

If there's one thing I love, it's dipping foods into other foods. Chips into dip, strawberries into chocolate, seasoned meats into savory broth, you get the idea... To start from what inspired this post I should say that I ADORE the Melting Pot. If you don't know what the Melting Pot is, I suggest you find the location nearest you and dive in (literally and figuratively). It is an amazing fondue restaurant with over 100 locations in the U.S. and it offers a dining experience completely different from anywhere else I have eaten. The quality of food is top notch and the staff has always been perfectly lovely, however, it is not a dinner-on-a-budget type of place and averages about $50-$75 per person, not including drinks. Yikes! As a fondue lover I needed to find an alternative to get my fix, and so this post was born!

First of all I will apologize for such an agonizingly long post- there are a lot of components to fondue- who knew?!



Step one was acquiring a fondue pot! After shopping around online for a week or so and mentioning to a few people that I was in the market for a hot pot, my sister's best friend offered me a brand new, still-in-the-box Oster 3-Quart Electric Fondue Pot. Seeing as she offered it up for free, I obviously couldn't resist! Thanks again, Tiffany! As a side note, no fondue pot- no problem, see the end of this post for how to make this meal without the extra appliance.

Step two was creating a dinner menu- This is where the fun starts! When I got the fondue pot I couldn't wait to take that baby for a spin. Since I was trying to replace a spot in my heart (and stomach) that was previously held by the Melting Pot I figured I would try to re-create some of my favorite main course options from the restaurant. I decided I would go for a surf and turf idea and boil up some shrimp and steaks. Keep in mind, that even though I am trying to save money by going out to eat this dinner wasn't exactly "cheap." After buying everything I needed, the total for the meal came to around $60 but, in my opinion, it was worth every penny!

I started off by prepping and seasoning/marinading the meat choices:

Meats:

• 8-10 Ounces Loin Top Sirloin Steak
• 8 Ounces Tenderloin Steak Filet Mignon
• About 10 Raw Jumbo Shrimp (more if you want!)

Ingredients:

• Sirloin- combine ingredients for a marinade
• 1/4 Cup Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce by Soy Vay
• 1/4 Cup Teriyaki marinade with Pineapple Juice by Lawry's

• Filet Mignon- 
• 2 teaspoons- Course kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons- Ground black pepper

• Shrimp- combine ingredients for a marinade
• 1 teaspoon- Finely sliced Chives
• 1 teaspoon- Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon- Roughly Chopped Cilantro

Prep:

1. Cut steaks into about 1 inch cubes
2. Peel and de-vein shrimp- Find a great tutorial on this HERE
3. While keeping all meats in separate containers- pour prepared marinade on sirloin steak cubes, season and toss Filet Mignon, and pour prepared marinade onto shrimp. 
4. Cover all three tightly and place into refrigerator until ready to cook.

All prepped and ready for cooking!

To go along with my meat choices I wanted some dipping sauces so I made a sauce that is a dupe for my favorite dipping sauce from the melting pot called "Green Goddess." It is a creamy, cool, delicious dip perfect for red meat, seafood, and veggies alike! I got the cheater recipe from food.com and I have to say, it is SPOT ON! So exciting!

Here is how to make the Green Goddess sauce-

Ingredients:

• 8 oz.- Cream Cheese cut into slices
• 1/2 Cup- Milk
• 1/4 Cup- Sour Cream
• 2 Tablespoons- Finely Chopped Onions
• 2 Tablespoons- Finely Chopped Parsley (I used dried parsley and it worked fine)
• 2 Tablespoons- Finley Sliced Chives

Instructions:

1. In a microwave safe container, microwave cream cheese and milk for 2-4 minutes, stirring after each minute, until smooth
2. Stir in sour cream, onions, parsley, and chives
3. Refrigerate until cold and thickened

I served some teriyaki sauce with sesame seeds and sriracha sauce for
additional dipping alongside the Green Goddess

The final step is making the broth that you will use to cook the meat and seafood in the fondue pot. I created a recipe for a simple, mild broth, so as not to take away from the flavors I created with the marinades and seasonings. Here is what you will need for the cooking broth:

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups- Chicken Stock
• 2 Tablespoons- Chopped Garlic
• 2 teaspoons- Rosemary (dry or fresh)
• 2 teaspoons- Oregano (dry or fresh)

Instructions:

1. Simmer the garlic in the fondue pot with about 1/2 cup of chicken broth for about a minute to bring out the flavor
2. Add rest of the stock, rosemary, and oregano
3. Bring broth to a slow boil and cook away!

Here is our set-up, so yummy- and filling too! Sorry for the not so great lighting...

A few notes about this recipe-

• If you don't have a fondue pot you can still enjoy this recipe. Follow the same instructions for the broth with a pot on the stove or on a hot plate- but be careful not to burn yourself!
• Keep a reserve of about a cup of chicken stock to add to the fondue pot as the broth evaporates over time
• Since this recipe involves direct interaction with raw meats you need to avoid cross contamination. In order to do this make sure to only put raw meat into the fondue pot and fully cooked meat onto the plate you are eating off of- never put raw meat onto the plate you are using!
• Cooking times for meats, seafood, and veggies are as follows:
• Steak- 2-3 minutes (depending on how rare you prefer it)
• Chicken- 3-5 minutes
• Seafood- 1-3 minutes
• Veggies- (broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms) 2-3 minutes, (potatoes) 5-8 minutes

... and that's all for fondue night! Follow up with some melted chocolate and berries for dessert to complete the evening in perfect style.

Happy dipping!