Tag: candiace dillard bassett

Food & Beverage

CANDIACE’S CRAVINGS: PORK CHOP W/ POMEGRANATE GLAZE

4 Comments

Ok, so if you caught my reel/tik tok/youtube short, Candiace finally had a “craving” that she wanted me to cook for her. Usually its just stop and pick up some Olive Garden (spaghetti with meat sauce) on the way home from work. After working all day, she texted me that she wanted a pork chop with pomegranate glaze. Luckily the grocery store (Wegmans) is on the way home, so it was no big deal to stop. Yes, I was tired after working all day, and didnt really feel like or want to cook…..but she is pregnant with our child, and on some level, I probably owed for something dumb I had done during the week.

Anyway, for those of you that may be new here, or have forgotten since it has been so long since I posted here…I HATE the websites that have to write long ass stories when all you really want is the damn recipe……so here it is!

Grocery Cart:

Bone In Thick Cut Pork Chop

Bassetts Blends All Purpose HOT seasoning (or your favorite seasoning)

Pomegranate Juice

Sugar

Beef Stock

Butter

Salt & Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

First, pat dry your pork chop(s) with a paper towel. Patting them dry removes any excess moisture that could cause the chop to not have good surface contact with the pan while searing. Once the chops are dry, generously season them with my Bassetts Blends All Purpose HOT seasoning on all sides.

Heat a skillet on medium high heat and add a little avocado oil. Once the pan is hot, add in the chops and let sit for 2-3 minutes, until a nice sear/crust is formed. After 2-3 minutes, flip and sear the second side for the same amount of time. Once chops are seared on both sides, place the skillet into the oven and cook to desired temperature. I cook my pork chops to a medium temperature which usually takes about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness. I ALWAYS use a meat thermometer to ALWAYS get the right temperature. Why guess when the tools to get it right are readily available.

For the Pomegranate Glaze:

Using a sauce pan on medium high heat, add equal parts pomegranate juice and white sugar ( for this recipe i used 1/2 cup of each. Bring mixture to slow boil. Stir often to dissolve the sugar and reduce by 1/4.

Next add in about 2 ounces of beef stock

Finally finish with 2 tablespoons of cold butter, whisk together until smooth.

And that is it! A really easy and fast meal with a ton of flavor.

Food & Beverage

THE EASIEST, CRISPIEST, FLAKIEST CHICKEN POT PIE EVER!!!

Now I’ll be honest, I’ve never really been a big fan of Chicken Pot Pie. I dont even really like pie crust in general. Its hard and dry, and just not my thing. Now we are adding carrots and peas (I really do NOT like peas) to a pie crust. Chicken is boring to me as well, so this was just never a dish that I have enjoyed. Until, I came across this recipe. Something about it spoke to my soul, and I just had to give it try. Now I still left out the peas, you can certainly add them in if you like, have fun with the recipe, make it your own!

Grocery List:

1 Rotisserie Chicken, 1 can Cream of Mushroom, 1 can Cream of Chicken, 14oz bag of frozen veggies (I used a mix of carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower), 1 ready made pie crust, 1 package phyllo dough, melted butter, Bassett’s Blends All Purpose Seasoning, Bassett’s Blends All Purpose HOT Seasoning, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

While the oven is preheating, begin to shred the chicken into thin pieces. Next, in a mixing bowl, add in the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken. Next you will add in the shredded chicken, followed by the frozen vegetables. Once all of those ingredients have been added, add in the fresh rosemary and thyme. Next season with your Bassett’s Blends (or seasoning of choice) to your desired taste/flavor/seasoning level.

Next remove your ready made pie crust from the freezer (if frozen) and bring to room temp. Stretch the pie crust across the bottom and sides of your baking dish of choice. Add your chicken mixture to the pie crust and spread out evenly.

Carefully and gently, lightly ball up small pieces of your phyllo dough and place them on top of the chicken mixture to create the top crust. Cover the top entirely with these little phyllo dough balls. Once the top is covered, using a pastry brush, lightly paint the phyllo dough with some melted butter.

Place the entire baking dish into your 425 degree oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the dish is hot all the way through.

Once your pot pie has finished baking, remove from the oven and garnish with some more fresh thyme

Like I said earlier, I have never been a fan of chicken pot pie, but I really enjoyed making this version and the taste was great. Give it a try and let me know what you think of it!!

Sports

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: EBOOK

Leave a comment

YOU FOUND IT!! Welcome to my website and thank you for your interest in my ebook/cookbook. This is just a small sampling of some bigger things I have coming in the next year, and I am excited to share that journey with you. You can buy/download the ebook here. Go ahead, just click this link!

Thank you again, and be sure to be on the lookout for “Bassett’s Blends”, my line of seasonings/spices that will be dropping soon as well. Its only up from here! Don’t for get to let me know your feedback for A Few Of My Favorite Things, so that I can continue to bring you the content you want!

Chris

Food & Beverage

“SHE CAME FROM JESUS”

Leave a comment

Since #RHOP premiered last night….lets revisit this cocktail! For those of you that are fans of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of Potomac, you may remember this cocktail from Season 3. If you are not a fan of the show, or are new to my page, here’s a little back story.

I’ve been a part of the food & beverage industry for longer than I care to mention. That being said, curating food and cocktail menus has always been a passion project for me. When I met my wife back in 2012 or 2013, I was serving as the Beverage Director, for a now defunct dim sum restaurant, I was just getting into my cocktail creation groove. At the time, she (my wife) only really drank red wine, on Thursdays, while watching Scandal, in her aptly named “Olivia Pope” balloon wine glasses….enter me!

Curating and creating cocktails can be a tedious task of trial and error, all while attempting to achieve optimal balance and great taste. It also usually results in several missteps and plenty of drunken afternoons and nights! While we were dating and living together, Candiace quickly started to expand her horizons and take on more than a glass of wine, and was clearly benefiting from all of the tasting she got to take part in on a nightly basis. After months of tasting cocktails for everyone else, Candiace wanted me to create a cocktail for her. Not just any cocktail, but one that represented her. Beauty, style, grace, all rolled into one sexy cocktail.

Also…..while you’re reading this, don’t for get to pick up some of my Bassett’s Blends All Purpose, and All Purpose HOT Seasoning blends. You can get them right here by clicking this link!! You will be seeing this talked about on the show coming up as well!

When creating a cocktail, I usually start with the spirit/liquor that I want to showcase. I knew that this cocktail was ALWAYS going to be brown, to represent that smooth sexy skin tone. Initially I thought bourbon, but landed on rum, a spiced rum at that, since, well you know, shes a little spicy! At the time I was creating this “special” cocktail, bitter-esque cocktails using amaros and other similar style spirits were having a moment, and being used a lot. I thought a slight bitterness was the perfect fit to go with spiced rum. It took me quite some time to find the perfect one that wasn’t too bitter, and still was able to add depth. Now, despite what you may see on your tv screen, Candiace is actually a very sweet person, so I needed a sweet component to this beverage. Orange is a great flavor that works with rums. Initially I was looking at a fresh made orange simple syrup, then just orange juice, but it just wasn’t giving what i needed it to. I also wanted this cocktail to be stirred, to keep that sexy, smooth look to it. A shaken cocktail, especially with orange juice, would leave the drink with cloudy look, and just not the look I wanted. So, keeping it a stirred cocktail, looking for an orange element, I began looking at things like Cointreau, Gran Marnier, even Gran Gala. I finally settled on Mandarine Napoleon and it gave what needed to be gave! To finish off the drink and bring it all together, we added a few dashes (3 of them to be exact, because that is my favorite number) of Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters, and a flamed orange peel for garnish to drive home that orange aroma.

Naming cocktails has never really been my strong suit, my creativity only goes so far. For the longest time this drink was simply called “Candiace’s Cocktail”. After we wrapped filming of our first season on #RHOP, and Candiace delivered her iconic clap back; “I came from Jesus!”

I figured now was as good a time as any to #driveback and revisit one of my favorite drinks and share those #benefits with you all. Check out the full recipe below, and don’t forget to tag me in your pictures of you enjoying “She Came From Jesus”!!

Cheers!

“SHE CAME FROM JESUS” Recipe:

  • 2oz of Thrashers Spiced Rum
  • 1oz of Cardamaro
  • .75oz of Mandarine Napolean
  • 3 dashes of Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters

Directions: In a mixing glass, add all of the above. Add in a fair amount of ice. Stir for 15-20 seconds. Strain mixing glass into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel. Enjoy!