PREP PLAN

Up to One Week Before

Bake cookies

Make syrup for coffee

One Day Before

Blanch potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower, and prep the other vegetables (fennel and radishes) for fondue

Make caper butter for appetizer

The Day Of

Cut steak, grate cheeses, core and slice apple, and cube bread for fondue

Prep greens for salad

Cut celery root into matchsticks for appetizer

Just Before Guests Arrive

Toss together salad

Caramelize the pears for dessert

Reheat syrup for coffee

Smoked Trout and Celery Root Salad with Rye Crisps

Think of this as more of an assembly idea than a recipe. Buy some nice smoked trout, mash some briny capers into creamy butter, and toss celery root with a splash of vinegar and little else. Let guests top their own crackers as one of you pours the wine and the other prepares the fondue.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

1 small celery root, peeled, thinly sliced, and cut into matchsticks

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

  Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill

1 (8-ounce) package smoked trout

  Rye crisp crackers, such as Finn Crisp

Mix butter and capers in a small bowl until well combined. In a separate bowl, toss celery root with vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and top with dill. Serve trout with crackers, caper butter, and celery root salad.

Bitter Greens Salad

Bitter greens come in many colors and textures—silky pale endive, spiky frisée, and radicchio that’s speckled (Variegato di Castelfranco) or saturated red (di Treviso and di Gorizia), among others. Their bitterness varies in intensity as well. Mix and match milder and more bitter greens for a sensational salad balanced by a gently sweet vinaigrette.

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon sugar

  Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 heads endive, cored and thinly sliced crosswise

1 head frisée, cored and torn into bite-size pieces

1 head radicchio, cored and thinly sliced

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Add greens and toss just before serving.

FONDUE 101

Fondue may be casual, but there are still a few things to keep in mind when you’re the hosts:

Sharing Four to six is an ideal number of people dipping into the same fondue. Give each guest a coded fondue fork to avoid mix-ups when the forks are in the pot. Resist the urge to double the recipe—it’s better to make multiple batches and replace as needed.

Prepping Blanch and cut up vegetables a day ahead; store with damp paper towels in resealable plastic bags until ready to use. Slice and cube bread in advance and allow pieces to dry out so that the cheese will adhere better. Choose the right types of cheeses, too: not all melt well.

Melting The impulse is often to turn the heat up to high in hopes of melting the cheese quickly. But this can cause the cheese to break (separating into a solid and a liquid) or “seize,” its proteins clumping into a rubbery mass. Instead, add the cheese gradually and allow the fondue to cook slowly.

Dipping Use a fondue fork to spear a piece of bread, cooked steak, vegetable, or fruit. Hold the coated piece briefly over the pot to let drips fall back into the pot. Remove the food from the fondue fork onto a plate and eat with a dinner fork.

Cheese Fondue with Seared Steak and Vegetables

By its nature, cheese fondue is drippy and gooey and warm, so it instantly sets a relaxed and easy dinnertime mood. Typically, a blend of Swiss mountain cheeses (including Gruyère) is used, but adding young Gouda to the mix makes it tangier, milkier, and lighter in flavor. The combination makes a delicious dip for seared sirloin, boiled vegetables, cubes of bread, apple wedges, sliced fennel, and cornichons.

1 pound sirloin steak, cut into 1½-inch pieces

  Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon safflower or other vegetable oil

1 pound small potatoes, such as red, new, or German Butterball

1 small head broccoli

1 small head cauliflower

8 ounces young Gouda, rind trimmed, coarsely grated

8 ounces Gruyère, rind trimmed, coarsely grated

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 garlic clove, halved

1½ cups dry white wine

1 tablespoon brandy

  Freshly grated nutmeg

1 small bulb fennel, cored and cut into wedges

8 radishes, thinly sliced

1 apple, cored and sliced

½ cup cornichons

½ loaf rustic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high. Swirl in oil. Working in batches, add beef in a single layer. Cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate; tent with parchment-lined foil.

2. Place potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a large saucepan with enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the tip of a paring knife inserted into center of potatoes meets only slight resistance, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and reserve.

3. Meanwhile, bring another pot of water to a boil. Cut broccoli and cauliflower into 2- to 3-inch pieces. Add salt to water, then blanch broccoli and cauliflower florets until just tender, 5 minutes. Drain and reserve.

4. Toss cheeses with cornstarch in a bowl until coated. Rub bottom and sides of a fondue pot or medium pot with garlic; discard garlic. Add wine and brandy; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

5. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in cheese mixture in batches, waiting for cheeses to melt before adding more. Cook, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes. Season with nutmeg.

6. Transfer mixture to a fondue pot set over a warmer. Serve immediately with beef, vegetables, apple, cornichons, and bread.

Lemon Ginger Cookies

To make things more visually interesting, and to carry on with the help-yourself feel of the evening, keep the dessert course loose and carefree: Set out the roasted pears, then place some drop cookies on a platter, with squares of store-bought dark chocolate, dried fruits, and toasted nuts.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 large egg

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)

1⅓ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon diced crystallized ginger, plus 3 tablespoons slivered

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl. Add egg; mix on high to combine. Add zest; mix to combine.

2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, and diced crystallized ginger; add to butter mixture and mix on medium-low just to combine.

3. Using two spoons, drop about 2 teaspoons of batter 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake cookies 7 minutes. Sprinkle cookies with sugar, top each with a few ginger slivers, rotate sheets, and bake until cookies are just golden, about 7 minutes more. Slide parchment with cookies onto a wire rack and let cool, about 15 minutes. (Store in airtight containers up to 1 week.)

Roasted Brandied Pears

Most people think of strawberries and peaches when they think of fresh fruit desserts, but pears are fantastic throughout the fall and winter, and just as worthy of a party menu. Roasting them in a little butter, sugar, and brandy is a good way to do just that. An ovenproof skillet lets you go from stovetop to roasting to tabletop with just one pan, but you can transfer the fruit to a serving dish if you like.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

3 ripe but firm pears, such as Anjou or Bosc, halved

2 tablespoons brandy

Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in an ovenproof skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar over melted butter, and cook, without stirring, until sugar caramelizes, about 5 minutes. Add pears, cut-side down, in an even layer. Carefully add brandy to deglaze pan. Spoon some caramelized sugar over pears, transfer skillet to oven, and roast until pears are lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Serve with pan juices.

Coffee with Cardamom and Cognac

You can always just make a pot of coffee, but why not end the meal with something out of the ordinary? This coffee-and-nightcap-in-one offers a nice way to relax after the rich fondue. Whipped cream is entirely optional; offer milk on the side, too.

1 cup water

1 cup raw sugar, such as turbinado or Demerara

9 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup cognac or other brandy

3 cups freshly brewed coffee

1. In a saucepan, bring the water, sugar, and cardamom to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. (Syrup mixture can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week. Before using, gently reheat.)

2. When ready to serve, whip cream to soft peaks. Add brandy and hot coffee to saucepan with syrup mixture, and stir to combine. Divide among 6 glasses. Serve immediately, with whipped cream on the side.