Barbecue Fondue With Smokey Paprika and Beer Cheddar Sauce

I love barbecue and and I love fondue. I didn’t think they could get better until I decided to put the two together. Birds started singing and the clouds parted revealing glorious rainbows. Just kidding, but it was REALLY GOOD. When you cook the meat, veggies and cheese sauce on the grill, something magical happens. The flavors are amazing and there is a smokey note that takes the meal to the next level of awesomeness.

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients-Part One (Barbecue)

For this Instructable, you will need something to barbecue and then to dip in fondue. I like a lot of variety when I fondue; it’s always a fun experiment to find the best flavor pairings.
I chose to use these ingredients for the barbecuing portion of this recipe:

Meat:
2 pounds chicken thighs
1 1/4 pounds pork chops (boneless pork chops)
1 1/4 pounds beef (boneless short ribs)

Vegetables:
1 cup broccoli
1 1/2 cups mushrooms
2 cups potatoes
1 medium yellow squash
1/2 medium red onion
1 orange bell pepper

Fruit:
1 1/2 cup small roma tomatoes
2 cups grapes
1 apple

Other:
1 bread loaf (baguette)

Step 2: Gather Your Supplies- Part One

For this instructable, you will need some common pieces of culinary equipment that are found in almost every kitchen.

For this first part, you will need:
A cutting board
Meat scissors
A sharp knife
Bowls or ziploc bags
Measuring spoons
Measuring cups
Whisk
Wooden skewers or metal skewers

Step 3: Cut Up Your Ingredients

Using a sharp knife and meat scissors, cut up all three meat types into approximately 1 inch pieces. Make sure you wash them between each type of meat.
Cut up the broccoli, potatoes, onion, and bell pepper into 1 inch pieces as well.

Step 4: Gather Your Ingredients-Part Two (Marinade)

In order to create your marinade, you will need:
Soy sauce
Olive oil
Worcestershire sauce
Light brown sugar
Minced garlic
Apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper

Step 5: Create the Marinade

In a medium bowl, combine the following ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup minced garlic
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Whisk until mixed.

Step 6: Marinate

In separate bowls, I sorted each kind of meat plus a bowl for all of the vegetables. I had a total of 4 bowls. To each bowl of meat, I added 1/3 cup of marinade and stirred the meat with a different spoon each time.
The remaining marinade was added to the bowl combining all of the vegetables plus the tomatoes.
I covered each bowl and placed them in the refrigerator for two hours.
*If you don’t have enough bowls, you can use ziplock bags.

Step 7: Soak the Skewers

While the food is marinating, soak your wooden skewers in water so that they don’t catch on fire while grilling. I used bamboo skewers and placed them in an upright glass for thirty minutes and then I flipped them over so that the other side could soak up water.

If you have metal skewers, you can skip this step.

Step 8: Utilizing the Skewers

For this step, I acquired some much needed help from my teenage daughters. Together, we skewered everything. Since this recipe serves 8-10 hungry adults, there was a lot of food to be skewered.
I placed each ingredient on its own skewer and the skewers were placed into 13 x 9 casserole dishes to be refrigerated until ready to grill. I kept each type of meat and the veggies in four separate dishes.

Step 9: Gather Your Ingredients-Part Three (Fondue)

For this instructable, I created a fondue sauce that is flavored with beer, cheddar, mustard and smokey paprika. You will need the following ingredients:
Unsalted butter
All purpose flour
12 ounces of beer (pale lager)
Smokey paprika
Ground mustard
Salt
Ground black pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (mild)
Milk (I used 2 percent whole milk will work too)

Step 10: Gather Your Supplies- Part Two (Grilling)

The trick to creating delicious fondue on the grill is to utilize a double boiler. This is a pan that nests inside of another pan to cook food. The bottom pan is filled with water and heated which heats the upper pan with steam.
With the fondue in the top pan, you are heating it with steam therefore, there is no contact with the direct flames. It is a wonderful way to avoid getting scorched cheese on the bottom of your pan.
In order to create a barbecue fondue, you will need:
A double boiler
Grill tongs
Oven mit
Meat thermometer

Step 11: Let’s Grill!

Before you get started, clean your grill. Make sure it is free from old food. I used 1/2 an onion to treat the grill to make it more non-stick. The cut side was placed down on the grill and moved back and forth to coat the metal grates.
Preheat your grill. I used a gas powered grill and the side burner to create this meal. If you cut down the amount of food, you can cook the fondue and the skewers all on the main grill.
You want your grill to have a warmer and a cooler side. For this part, the right side of the grill was at medium heat and the left side was at low heat. The overall temperature of the grill stayed at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
For the side burner, I started at medium heat and eventually reduced it to low once the sauce came together.

Step 12: Let’s Grill!

As the food was grilled, a meat thermometer was used to get the perfect temperatures for each type of food.
The following internal temperatures were acheived:
Chicken 180 degrees Fahrenheit
Pork 170 degrees Fahrenheit
Beef 160 degrees Fahrenheit

On the vegetables, I checked for tenderness and color.
Once each skewer had reached the desired temperature, tenderness, and color, it was moved from the warmer side of the grill to the cooler side.

Step 13: “Do You Fondue?”- Captain America

Fill the bottom pan of the double boiler 3/4 full of water. Place the top pan on top and add the entire piece of equipment to the burner and turn to medium heat. To create your cheese sauce, add three tablespoons of butter to the top pan of the double boiler.

Step 14: That’s So Cheesy!

Add 1/3 cup of all purpose flour once the butter has melted. Stir until a paste forms and let it cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Step 15: Make It Bubble

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."

- Abraham Lincoln

Add 12 ounces of beer (pale lager) and stir.

Step 16: Don’t Forget the Spices!

Add 1 teaspoon each of smokey paprika, ground mustard, and Kosher salt. Add 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Stir.

Step 17: Mmmmm...cheese.

Add two cups of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup milk. Stir. Heat until cheese melts and sauce becomes homogeneous. Sauce should cling to food when dipped.

Step 18: How About an Outdoor Fondue Party?

I am so glad that I did this instructable because it gave me the opportunity to have this wonderful food and have some good times with friends and family. You can easily halve this recipe for smaller gatherings and it would work great. You can also play around with marinade flavors and different types of cheeses for the fondue. Even though I used a gas grill, you can also do this on a charcoal or electric grill too. The neat thing is that you get great grilled food with a delicious fondue sauce and you can enjoy it all outside. It’s a nice way to mix things up a bit and push away from the dinner table. Al fresco dining changes the dining experience and allows people the chance to savor the food, conversations, and experience.
I really enjoyed this meal and spending time visiting with others. The food was terrific and I can’t wait to do it again!