Saturday, September 26, 2015

Tasty & Easy Chicken Tenderloins - Strange Name

This chicken tenderloins recipe from food.com is tasty and really simple, albeit with a strange name - "Heroin Chicken Tenders (One Taste and You're Addicted)". (http://www.food.com/recipe/heroin-chicken-tenders-one-taste-and-youre-addicted-69990) You're likely to have all the ingredients you need except the chicken tenders. 

The original recipe below serves 4. I cut it in half because I was only making dinner for two of us.

Ingredients

- 2 lbs chicken tenders
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine dry ingredients, including Parmesan cheese.

3. Line a shallow pan with foil

4. Melt butter in a shallow dish (that's long enough for dipping the tenders)

5. Dip each piece in butter; then roll in the seasoning mix, and place in the pan with the foil.

6. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, or until chicken is done. (25 minutes in our Breville toaster oven was perfect.)

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Antoine's Restaurant, Sarasota - Very Nice Flavors of France and Belgium

The other night, my wife and I enjoyed a delightful dinner at Antoine's (http://www.antoinessarasota.com/), a restaurant which offers delicious French cuisine and terrific mussels. The owners, Olivier Georges and his wife Angela, were originally recruited from Belgium to work at Brasserie Belge, which we loved. The owner of Brasserie Belge (Belgian Brasserie) decided to close the brasserie and return to Belgium, but Olivier and Angela loved it here and decided to open their own restaurant. They first opened it on Fruitville, and then moved to the current location, in the small shopping center across from Ed Smith Stadium.

My wife and I went for a special they were offering - a three-course dinner for two, plus a bottle of wine, plus amuse-bouche for $69. All of the food was delicious, and the wine was decent.

The amuse-bouche was Gougeres - two small pastries made with dough and Swiss cheese.

My wife's appetizer was broccoli bisque, and mine was Mussels Marinières (Moules Marinières). I love mussels, and these were terrific. Antoine's serves seven types of mussels, and on Monday nights, they offer an all-you-can-eat mussels special for $22.

My wife and I had the same main dish - a pork roulade au jus stuffed with spinach and apples. The pork was served with a mix of vegetables perfectly cooked - asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes.

For dessert, we both had the Belgian chocolate mousse. It was fantastic.

After dinner, we both enjoyed a cup of very nice espresso.

The butter served with the bread was an elegant creation carved by Olivier.

The bottle of wine offered with the special was Patriarche Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. Both are from the Pays d'Oc area of France. It was decent, and I was not expecting more for the price.

Olivier is the host and server, and Angela is the chef. She makes everything from scratch. Olivier has a warm and welcoming personality. He is very attentive.

For those who like special beers, they offer 12 beers, which I believe are all Belgian.

Olivier and Angela created the decor themselves. It has resulted in a very cozy atmosphere.

They are currently only open for dinner 6 days per week, and closed on Sunday. Olivier said they might open for lunch during the winter season.