You may have used potatoes in an assortment of fondue dippers, but they can be served on their own with a pot of warm, dripping cheese.

Try potato fondue as a first course at dinner (photo #1), or a light main course with an added protein dipper (ham, sausage or turkey chunks) and a salad.

We adopted this recipe from one by Mary Giuliani, sent to us by Potatoes USA, a potato marketing and research organization that represents more than 2,500 potato growers and handlers nationwide. You’ll find hundreds of interesting potato recipes at PotatoGoodness.com.

We:

 
 
RECIPE: POTATO FONDUE

Ingredients

For The Potatoes

 
For The Fondue

 
Plus

 
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*Like miniature vegetables, baby potatoes are harvested before they’re full-grown. This makes them pricier, but with so much more eye appeal! They are available in white, red and purple varieties and are often sold as a mix. Baby potatoes are variously called creamer, new or petite potatoes.

†The original recipe called for 1 cup of russet, 1 cup of purple and 1 cup of fingerling potatoes, cut into cubes.

‡You can use any cheese that melts well. Emmentaler, fontina, gouda, havarti, Monterey jack, provolone, raclette, reblochon and taleggio are also good melters. You can also blend two or three cheeses together for more complex flavors.
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Preparation

Everyone should be able to reach the fondue pot with their skewers. You can pass the potatoes in a serving bowl, or bring individually-filled plates to the table along with a serving bowl for “seconds.”

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. If you are using fresh onions, soak them in warm water for 5 minutes before trimming the ends and removing the skins.

[2] We substituted baby potatoes (photo © Cilantropist).

[3] We added roasted pearl onions (photo © The Cutting Edge Of Ordinary).

[4] Gruyère is our favorite cheese for fondue (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

If roasting the onions and potatoes together, keep them on separate sides of the pan in case you have to remove the onions a few minutes earlier. The onions should be al dente. If they get soft, they won’t stay on the fondue forks. Ditto with the potatoes: yielding to the fork, but not soft.

3. COMBINE the beer, half-and-half, flour and mustard powder in a medium saucepan. Warm the liquid over medium heat and begin adding the cheese, whisking until melted.

4. REMOVE from the heat and add the pepper, salt and nutmeg. Place the pot back on the stove and cook while stirring to a smooth consistency. Add more beer if the fondue is too thick; add more cheese if it’s too thin.

5. TRANSFER the mixture to a fondue pot and stand fitted with Sterno or a votive candle (Sterno will keep it hotter, longer). Stir in the bacon. Serve with roasted potatoes. To keep the fondue at its ideal consistency, stir it intermittently.
 
 

[1] Brack, an Irish tea bread, is traditionally round (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[2] But it can be a rectangular loaf (photo © Stasty).

[3] Enjoy it with a cup of tea (photo © AG Photographer | Canstock).

Brack is short for barmbrack, a traditional Irish sweet bread.

The original barmbrack was a yeast bread with raisins and sultanas. Barm is a type of yeast and brack is a loaf of bread.

Call it brack for short.

In Ireland it is sometimes called bairín breac, Gaelic for “speckled loaf.” The speckling refers to the raisins and sultanas in the bread.

That’s why it’s also called Irish Freckle Bread, a name which may go over better with kids and uncurious eaters.

Call it what you will, today’s brack has ditched the yeast to become a moist, dense, packed-with-fruit breakfast and snack bread. It’s usually made in flattened rounds, but a loaf pan will do (and is easier to slice, in our opinion).

It’s moderately sweet, like a zucchini bread or a raisin muffin. It is typically served with breakfast and afternoon tea; hence, tea brack. Some people like it toasted with butter.

Barmbrack has also evolved into an Irish Halloween tradition. The Halloween version has fortune-telling trinkets hidden in the bread.
 
 
RECIPE: IRISH TEA BRACK

This recipe comes from the award-winning cookbook, The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

It uses brewed tea as its liquid. You can substitute 2 tablespoons of Irish whiskey for 2 tablespoons of the tea.

Prep time is 10-15 minutes, bake time is 60-70 minutes. Cut to modest size, you can get 16 servings from an 8″ round cake.

Serve it with a cup of tea, of course; and with softened butter if desired.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. POUR the hot tea over the dried fruits in a medium-sized bowl. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm, about 1 hour.

2. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8″ x 2″ round cake pan. If your pan isn’t at least 2″ deep, use a 9″ round pan.

4. ADD the egg, mixing till thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture into the pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the coarse sparkling sugar. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out moist, but without clinging crumbs.

5. REMOVE the bread from the oven and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
 
 

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Green bagels are a novelty on St. Patrick’s Day. But here’s a more elegant way to enjoy your bagel, with green fruits and vegetables.

The concept can be applied to any holiday or occasion with theme colors (see the lists below), and can be part of a bagel buffet for brunch. Bonus: It’s a way to add an extra helping of produce to your daily intake.

On top of the cream cheese, arrange fruits and/or vegetables in your color theme, as demonstrated by Arla Foods, maker of the cream cheese spreads used on the bagel (photo #1 and photo #6 at the bottom).

Fruit on bagels beyond a raisin bagel? See photo #5, below—and try it on English muffins, too.

Pick some fruits and/or vegetables from your color list, and get started. The green group has the most options.

(Note: Specialty colors, such as yellow watermelon or purple bell peppers, aren’t typically found at supermarkets. Head to a specialty produce store or a farmers market.)

GREEN FRUITS & VEGETABLES

 
ORANGE FRUITS & VEGETABLES

 
PURPLE/BLUE FRUITS & VEGETABLES

 
RED FRUITS & VEGETABLES

 
YELLOW FRUITS & VEGETABLES

[1] and [6] The alternative solution from Arla Foods. [2] Conventional green bagels from Einstein Bros Bagels. [3] Fancy (and $6 each!) at the Wynn Las Vegas. [4] The creativity award goes to the shamrock bagels at Sunrise Bagels and Cafe in Wyckoff, New Jersey. [5] Fruit-topped bagel from Number 2 Pencil.

[6] Bagels with a buffet of green fruits and vegetables (photo courtesy Arla Foods).