Goat Cheese Fondue with Toasted Rustic Bread

My goat cheese fondue is just the thing to serve on an autumn evening when there's a little chill in the air. Pick up some crisp apples, a few ripe pears at their seasonal peak, and a pale-green bulb of fennel. Char thick slices of crusty rustic bread on the grill, then cut the bread into bite-size chunks, cut your fall produce into thin wedges, and serve with a fondue pot of creamy, warm goat cheese for dunking. The companionship of your friends around the fondue pot, a bottle of wine or two, and the evening will warm up nicely.

If you don't own a fondue pot and don't want to buy a new one, you can pick one up at a garage sale, or you can just serve the fondue in a double boiler. (It's fun to have a set of those long-handled forks though.) If you don't feel like cooking, that's OK too. Just stop by Palace Kitchen (www.tomdouglas.com/palace). Goat cheese fondue is on our menu every day of the year.

Goat Cheese Fondue

    (Makes 6-8 servings)
    1 cup whipping cream
    11 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese, broken into chunks
    1 tablespoon sliced chives
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    Toasted rustic bread (see recipe below)
    1 or 2 Granny smith apples, cored but not peeled, and cut into thin wedges
    1 or 2 ripe pears, cored but not peeled, and cut into thin wedges
    1 small bulb fennel, cored and cut into thin wedges

Slowly warm the whipping cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until hot but not boiling. Gradually add the goat cheese and whisk until smooth. The thickness of the fondue may vary due to the particular brand of fresh goat cheese that you use. It should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If too thin add a little more cheese, if too thick add a little more cream. Remove the fondue from the heat and stir in the chives and black pepper.

Pour the warm fondue into a fondue pot and serve with bite-size chunks of toasted rustic bread and apple, pear, and fennel wedges for dunking.

If you're not making the fondue as part of a grilling menu, you can brush the bread with oil and toast it under the broiler, turning as needed until golden brown on both sides.

Toasted Bread

    (Makes 6-8 servings)
    8 slices rustic bread, 1 inch thick
    1/2 cup olive oil, or as needed

Fire up the grill. Brush the slices of bread generously on both sides with the olive oil, then grill them, turning, until golden brown, a few minutes per side. Watch carefully and move the slices around so the bread toasts evenly and does not burn. Remove from the heat, and use a serrated knife to cut the bread into bite size cubes.

Pile the chunks of toasted bread on a colorful platter and pass regular or fondue forks to your guests for dunking the bread in the fondue