Kiss the Chef

Tonight was a grand experiment in cooking. If you know me at all, you know that anything resembling cooking is a rarity in my house. I don't like to do it much, and I live alone; cooking for one is a suspect proposition to begin with. I mean, I'm not a frozen dinner sort of person, but I vaguely rotate through a stable of half a dozen things that are all quick and easy to make.

Well, last week when I was seeing my family for Thanksgiving, I saw this cookbook on the counter. Called "Dip Into Something Different," it was a book of fondue recipes from The Melting Pot. My mother and sister told me they'd recently mustered the wherewithal to try a full meal from the book, and it was delicious. And Mom said I could -- should -- borrow the book and give it a shot. Hey, for some reason, I have fondue pot, even though it had only been used once in several years. Why not?

Knowing that I'd have company come over Saturday night, I made plans for the works... a "Zesty Cheddar" dip for breads, a "Teriyaki Marinade" for chicken, and a chocolate dessert fondue for fruit.

This is far and away the most cooking I've ever done in my life. Knowing I wouldn't be at home this afternoon, I had to plan ahead and do some of the prep last night, making the marinade, cubing the chicken and getting that all into the fridge. I was actually peeling garlic, chopping stuff, going through multiple measuring spoons... damn.

Then tonight, for the cheese and chocolate, we're hitting the big time. Every knife in my meager knife block was pressed into use. We're improvising double boilers with my few pots, using multiple small jars of spices I had to buy just for the occasion. Oh yeah, this was cooking.

But man, it was good. Crazy good. If cooking happens to be your thing, then I'd say you should consider checking out this cookbook. The Teriyaki Marinade in particular was one of the best things I've tasted in a long time. (Page 70. I'm sure you could just do kebabs or grill whole fillets if the fondue part of it isn't your thing.)

I can't say the experience made me want to cook again any time soon, but at least it turned out to be worth the effort this time.