chicken & grapes

Every time I had the option of choosing dinner growing up I chose the same recipe. Every holiday & birthday I would ask for the same recipe. Even now, if meim visits and offers to cook dinner, I ask for the same recipe; chicken & grapes. This is the one recipe (other than king crab legs) that I will never ever ever get sick of. Chicken & grapes is also amazing as left overs. Its overall a perfected recipe in every aspect.

Ingredients:

Curried rice 

1 cup rice

1 small apple (peeled, cored & cubed)

2 tbs curry powder

2 tbs butter

1 bay leaf

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Chicken and sauce

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt & pepper 

2 shallots

10 green grapes

1/2 cup white wine

3 tbs butter

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:

1. Begin with the rice. Heat 2 tbs butter, add onion and garlic. Cook until onion begins to hint at turning brown.

 

2. Add cubed apple and curry powder. Stir to mix.
 

 

3. Add rice, bay leaf, and chicken broth. Stir and bring to a low simmer. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

 

 

4. As the rice is simmering, cut the chicken into strips. Add 3 tbs butter to a pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken strips, sprinkle salt and pepper, and cook until it loses the raw-chicken look. Once it reaches this point, transfer to plate and cover with foil.
 

 

5. Add shallots to the pan and cook for 3 minutes. 

 6. Add wine and stir constantly until half has cooked off. Add juices that accumulate around reserved chicken pieces.

7. Add heavy cream and grapes to the wine-shallot mixture. Stir over high heat to thicken.

 

 

8. Add chicken back into mixture to fully cook and thicken sauce.
 

 

9. Once fully cooked and thickened to your liking, remove bay leaf & fluff rice, and plate in this order: rice, chicken, extra sauce, more extra sauce.
 

 

 

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pork tenderloin & scalloped potatoes

It turns out that pork tenderloin is one of the easiest & tastiest meals to make.  It tastes even better when paired with a deliciously creamy portion of scalloped potatoes. Scalloped potatoes made from scratch taste thousands of times better than boxed potatoes, but they take more time and require more love to be put into them...but in the end they pay off! Note: only make these scalloped potatoes for someone that deserves them, as they are delicious but require a bit of detailing and planning when it comes to laying the pieces out one by one.

 

Ingredients:
For pork tenderloin:
2 lb pork tenderloin
3 cloves garlic
1 tbs dried rosemary
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine

For scalloped potatoes:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tbp dried thyme (or 1 spring fresh thyme)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 lbs potatoes of choice
Salt & pepper
3/4 cup shredded parmesan


Directions:
1. Place 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbs dried rosemary, pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, and 1/4 cup of olive oil in food processor. Process until paste-like. Rub tenderloin in paste and marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove tenderloin from refrigerator, cut slits & push paste into slits to ensure a flavorful roast. Pour 1/2 cup white wine in bottom of baking pan, place tenderloin on wine, cover, and place in oven. Set timer for an hour and a half.

3.  In a small saucepan, heat up the heavy cream with the thyme, garlic, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Lightly butter a small pan.

 

4. Meanwhile, using a mandoline, cut potato into slices about 1/8". Place a potato slices to layer the bottom of the pan. Pour 1/4 cup of cream mixture over potatoes, top with a pinch of shredded parmesan. Place another layer of potatoes and repeat process: potatoes, cream, cheese, potatoes, cream, cheese. Continue until pieces run out and top with cheese. Pop in oven with pork.
 

 

5. When the timer buzzes, remove the pork from the oven, uncover, make sure the inside temp is 145 degrees, and slice if it is!
 

 

 

6. Remove potatoes when browned, crispy, and bubbly all at once. Serve and enjoy!
 

 

 

 

 

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