Tag: real housewives of potomac

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

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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

THIRSTY THURSDAY | THE ESPRESSO MARTINI

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I still am just not understanding the hype around this martini. I thought this thing died out in the 2000’s, but now it is EVERYWHERE. Maybe its just because I am not a fan of coffee, I just dont see the allure of this cocktail. I actually did a pretty funny IG “skit”/reel on this cocktail a few months back. A lot of you had voted for this one last week, and it was close, real close, so I decided that because so many people asked for it….I would make it this weeks cocktail.

Traditionally Kahlua is used for the coffee flavoring, but the purpose of this blog/Youtube channel is to turn you on to NEW and FUN things that you may or may not have heard or used before. There is a moonshine company (don’t get all weirded out, not the moonshine that burns holes in your esophagus, but a lovely, smooth drinkable moonshine) based out of Richmond, VA that I love , called Belle Isle Moonshine. I actually have posted about them here a few times in the past, and their whole line of products is just amazing. Anyway, I can talk about them another time. For our espresso martini, we will be using whatever vodka that you like, along with the Belle Isle Cold Brew Coffee moonshine. Now, I said earlier that I do not like coffee, coffee flavored drinks, coffee flavored desserts, but when I tell you how good this stuff is…..its really good! So good that I enjoy it on its own with just an ice cube or two.

Here’s the video….enjoy!

Food & Beverage

RASTA PASTA w/ JERK SHRIMP

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OK you “cream sauce crusaders” I hope this dish is to your liking! I loved it! This one is an easy one to do and has a TON of great flavor. The best part is that aside from cooking the pasta, it only requires 1 pan, so there is minimal clean up. I used the Walkerwoods HOT & SPICY jerk seasoning, so feel free to get a milder version or even use a dry rub if that is too hot for you. This is not a “traditional” rasta pasta” but I believe it rings true to the original dish. Dont eat me up too much in the comments for it. I say it in the video, if you are vegetarian, and dont want to do the shrimp or sausage, a good “meaty” mushroom is a great substitute here.

Grocery Cart:

2 tablsepoons avocado oil
1 pound shrimp
1/2 pound andouille sausage
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 teaspoons garlic paste
3 oz white wine (optional)
2 tablespoons jerk seasoning (wet)
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 cup pasta water, if needed
salt and pepper TT

Food & Beverage

THIRSTY THURSDAY | OUT ON DUVAL

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Its Thirsty Thursday and you all wanted vodka, so here it is! I really thought it was going to be an espresso martini, but you all voted for “something different”. I had to dig in “the vault” to find this one, but it is a Chris Bassett original. I created this back in like 2012 for a beverage program I was running at the time. I probably have not had this cocktail since I left there, and drinking it again today…I remember why I liked it so much. It is a little on the sweet side, but has some really good acid as well, and you can never go wrong with vanilla!

Enjoy

Food & Beverage

THE ONLY “SPAGHETTI” SAUCE YOU WILL NEED….SIMPLE POMODORO IN 30 MINUTES

Listen, I love a rich cheesy cream sauce as much as the next person. Throw in some blackening or Cajun seasoning, and just take all my money! But seriously….what is the choke hold that these sauces have on the internet/foodie community? There are so many other sauces out there that are just a flavorful and delicious, and wont leave you feeling like you need to run a 5k to enjoy them. This sauce here is one of them. Its in the simplicity of the ingredients, that short amount of time it takes to deliver a ton of flavor, and the versatility to add cream if you want!

This recipes literally has only 6 ingredients (8, if you count salt and pepper), and gives all the flavor you can handle. Not only is it quick and simple, but you can use this sauce for plain pasta, or for meatballs, your chicken/eggplant parmesan. You like a spicy vodka sauce, sure you can adapt this sauce for that. You need some full fat richness? Just add that heavy cream.

You can make this in a large batch, let it cool, and then store it in quart size freezer bags. Now you have a portioned sauce that is good for 4 to 6 people, and you can make each one differently when you choose to make it. This is how cooking should be; stress free, flavorful, with multiple uses. Check out the video for this quick and easy sauce:

Food & Beverage

“SHE CAME FROM JESUS”

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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!