what's on the menu

Well, here goes. My first blog entry. My first blog!
Come enjoy what's cooking...

Ella went to bed just over an hour ago, we're in the midst of a dizzying winter storm, and dinner is on the stove. I'd love to say I'm cooking something deeply romantic and cozy, like cassoulet or boeuf bourguignon, but I'm cooking for Chris, and it's his request. As delicious as this meal is, he'll never get a cookbook deal just because of the title! Tonight we'll be dining on "Chicken Chris Surprise!"
Chris invented this one-dish-meal while living in his shoebox size apartment in Paris. He shared a community kitchen down the hall powered by the most unrealiable fusebox known to man. He lived on a floor with people from China, Italy, England, France, and god-forbid--Tasmania!
Chicken Chris Surprise is a comfort food designed to feed a man with a serious metabolism. A Foodie on a budget. An Aussie living in Paris. Or Minnesota.
So what exactly is Chicken Chris Surprise? I know you're dying to know. It's a braised dish of lardon (bacon), merguez (spicy sausage), chicken, potatoes, peppers, onions or leeks, herbes de Provence, and wine. When it's nearly done, creme fraiche is swirled in to pull everything together in a creamy cloud of goodness (there wasn't nearly enough fat in the dish before). Not the prettiest dish, but seriously delicious.
Speaking of which, it's calling me with it's rich earthy aroma. I'm hungry--gotta' run!