Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen was the cookbook I learned to cook from. Don’t get me wrong – I learned how to cook from my family, but this was one of the first cookbooks I ever used, which explains why I don’t think taking two hours to make dinner is a bad thing. The recipes in this book are delicious; I’ve never had a bad meal from Chef Paul. However, the first time I made the Cajun Shepherd’s Pie from this book, it took four hours. That wasn’t because I was in middle school, just honing my knife skills. It still takes me quite a bit of time (it might have been because I had an aversion to vegetables, and I minced the heck out of the ones that went into the meal). But as anyone who has ever had a slice of this pie can attest, it is completely and totally worth it. (more…)

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Cookbook Review by Courtney

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…)

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Dinner, French, Gluten free, Gourmet, Wine pairings by Courtney