A few years back I bought the book French Women Don’t Get Fat. I’ll admit it, I was intrigued to see what this book would have to say, whether it would reveal some magical secret that allowed me to eat croissants and drink red wine all day long. Or at the least, it would tell me the magical secret was to drink red wine all day long!

What I hadn’t anticipated about this book were all the yummy recipes. One of them, Chicken au Champagne, I’ve had my eye on quite a while, but it’s taken me 5 years to get around to making it. This week, when I received a shipment of new Champagne glasses, I decided it was time. (more…)

Filed under:
Dinner, French, Gluten free, Gourmet, Wine pairings by Courtney

Generally, I’m hungry around 10 am. This is because I’m not ready for food before that time, only coffee. By 10:30 am, I am susceptible to craving immensely whatever food is put in front of me. So this morning, when I read that the place my old college roomie works for was being featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, I was in prime-craving mode. I haven’t been in Kansas City in nearly 6 years, so I decided to pop over to the Happy Gillis website and see what they had to offer. Just in case I’m ever in the area again, ya know?

Croque Madame caught my eye — ham, swiss, and grainy mustard, with runny egg to boot! Some may find this odd, but despite my love for runny egg, I’ve never had a croque madame. I didn’t even know how to make one. But, alas, I have no ham.

Or so I thought! I went to rummage through my refrigerator, because at this point I wanted something. We had some friends visiting this weekend, and they had come bearing not only gifts, but their road trip leftovers, which included – HAM! Hot diggity, I am back in bidness! (more…)

Filed under:
Brunch, French, Lunch, Sandwiches by Courtney