Fondue Bourguignone

When working up steaks on a hot grill, nothing goes better than cubes of steak served as a grilling time appetizer. Break out the oil and the Fondue and let your guests get the taste buds ready for action with this one.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds of steak fillet (at least 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick)
1 Tablespoon oil
2 shallots, chopped into fine pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons tomato puree (from paste tube or tin)
1 Tablespoon lightly chopped parsley
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil in a saucepan until it pops. Add the shallots and cook until soft. Lower heat to medium. Add the garlic and the chopped tomatoes with their juice from the can. Bring to a simmer add the tomato paste and season with salt and pepper.

Simmer the tomato sauce mix for about 30 minutes allowing it to thicken. Stir in the parsley and pour into a dipping bowl or into individual dipping trays. In the meantime fire up the fondue and bring about 1 to 1 – 1/2 to 2 inches of oil to a boil. Control heat to avoid smoke.

Slice the steak into 1 inch cubes, lightly season with fresh ground black pepper and coarse Sea Salt directly before serving ready for immersion into the hot oil of the fondue. Pass out the fondue forks and offer the tomato sauce as a finishing dip.

Attributed to: A memory of Switzerland all along the Alpe de Suisse.

Foster’s Favorite Tequila Shooter Chase Car

Tradition can give way to an interesting variation when it comes to lemon and salt after every Tequila shot. Here’s a recipe I created on a weekend in Baja California. And no. I wasn’t wasting away again in Margaritaville.

INGREDIENTS:
1 – 1/2 Cup of Orange Juice. Fresh squeezed is best.
1 Tablespoon Grenadine
1 Tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce. I prefer Cholula for this one.

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients using a spoon or a bartender’s mixing cup. Do not blend. The unique pairing of hot and sweet needs to be maintained. This helps to enrich the flavor as each replaces the more robust elements of the preceding shot of Tequila.

Shoot a shot of Tequila. Pause judiciously. Sip a shot of this smooth yet spicy chaser. Repeat.

Attributed to: A small saloon on the Northeast entrance to Old San Felipe.