![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/cham-bucket-341x300.jpg\" "\\"cham")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n \n a <\/strong><\/span>Kir <\/strong><\/span><\/em>or a <\/strong><\/span>Kir royal<\/strong><\/span><\/em>: that is the questio<\/strong><\/span>n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n End of the school year burn out. Everyone has it. Now that the children are out of school and camp plans have been made, it is time to take a moment and relax: summer is here. Enjoying an evening ap\u00e9ritif with friends and family is a nice way to do just that. While there are an array of fresh new cocktails using mint, pomegranates and even cucumbers, one of my absolute favorite ap\u00e9ritifs is a <\/span>Kir<\/span><\/em> or a <\/span>Kir royal.<\/span><\/em> This standby classic is one I often suggest to my clients and it is always a crowd pleaser. Kir<\/span> <\/span><\/em>and <\/span>Kir royals<\/span><\/em> <\/span>are ap\u00e9ritifs made with <\/span>cr\u00e8me de cassis<\/span><\/em>, a black currant liqueur. They are enjoyed throughout France but very popular in the Burgundy region of France where the\u00a0majority of black currants are grown. A Kir <\/em><\/span> is made with a dry white wine (originally with Aligot\u00e9 wine) and a Kir royal <\/em><\/span>is made with Champagne (although you could use sparkling wine or prosecco). The <\/span>Kir<\/em><\/span><\/span> got its name from Felix Kir, a former Mayor of Dijon and a hero in the French resistance, who insisted that a <\/span><\/span>Kir royal<\/span> <\/span><\/em>was the only drink served at official receptions. There is also a <\/span>Kir<\/span> <\/span><\/em>made with red wine, a <\/span>Kir Communard<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n The French have a fondness for currants in general. <\/span><\/span>Harvested in late June\/early July, red and black\u00a0currants can be found in every French market and grocery store. \u00a0Fresh currants are used in fruit tarts, cakes, salads, and in sauces but usually not as the primarily ingredient because they are tart (although the bigger ones are more watery). Currant leaves are dried and used in cooking and in infusions.\u00a0 Dried currants (which look like small raisins) and are a wonderful addition to baked goods, salads, and rice.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>If you want to enjoy the ap\u00e9ritif<\/em><\/span> in France, <\/span>order the <\/span>Kir<\/span><\/em> (which will cost you about 5 dollars) unless you want to pay well over twenty dollars for a <\/span>Kir royal<\/span>. At <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>home, make an ordinary day a special occasion and try a Kir royal<\/em><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/span> <\/span>When choosing a champagne, I suggest something dry without a lot of sugar added after the second fermentation (i.e.<\/span> Brut Natural, Extra Bru<\/span><\/span>t<\/span><\/span><\/em> <\/span>or <\/span>Brut<\/span><\/em>) because the cassis liqueur is sweet enough.<\/span><\/p>\n Kirs<\/em><\/span> and Kir royals<\/em> <\/span><\/span> are a classic that could be updated but why? they are simply delicious just the way they are.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Sant\u00e9 <\/span><\/em>!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n LM<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \n \n \n \n Kir royal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/span>stats:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Yield: <\/span> 6 Kir royals<\/span><\/p>\n Serves 6 (approximately 170 calories each)<\/span><\/p>\n what you need:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 1\u00a0 bottle very cold champagne how to:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" a Kir or a Kir royal: that is the question End of the school year burn out. Everyone has it. Now that the children are out of school and camp plans have been made, it is time to take a moment and relax: summer is here. Enjoying an evening ap\u00e9ritif with friends and family is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344,886,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beverages","category-my-inspirations","category-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6913,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions\/6913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/kir-350x154.jpg\" "\\"kir\\"")
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/bubble-225x300.jpg\" "\\"bubble\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n6 ounces <\/span>cr\u00e8me de cassis<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/glass-200x300.jpg\" "\\"glass\\"")
<\/p>\n