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This recipe is part of our Father’s day lunch menu in our monthly newsletter. It’s fun, healthy and full of flavour. We served ours with a side of blackbean and corn salad but any salad could do. Guacamole would also be great as would our signature Mojito!! Fajitas are meant to be easy and playful, a “make your own fajita” station is a great idea for any event. The toppings are endless from shredded duck or flank steak to chocolatey mole sauce so have a fun fiesta and make it your own!
Enjoy!

Servres 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets or two breasts pounded thinly
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoons cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 8 flour tortillas (6-inch)
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
• 1 green onion thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 1 avocado thinly sliced
• 4-6 oz grated Monterey Jack cheese or cheddar
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream, for serving
• Favourite Hot Sauce

Method:

1. Heat broiler, with rack set 4 inches from heat. Arrange chicken on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil; rub with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with chilli, cumin, coriander and cayenne  and season with salt and pepper. Broil, without turning, until chicken is opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside.

2. On another rimmed baking sheet lined with foil, toss peppers, onion, garlic, and remaining tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender and slightly charred, 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, thinly slice chicken crosswise. Stack and wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel; microwave on high until warm, about 1 minute. Transfer chicken and pepper mixture to a platter, and serve with tortillas, cilantro, green onion, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, and you favourite hot sauce

Yumm…

If you’ve ever come across an advertisement for a food and wine festival in your city I highly recommend that you go. My father and I were lucky enough to attend the “Salut Wine and Food Festival” in Toronto yesterday evening. Tickets were $50 for all you can eat and drink. Some may think this is too steep for a Wednesday night outing but this event boasted representatives from some of the best restaurants this city has to offer, great wine coupled with some great company, it’s a really nice way to break up the monotony of the week and get you to sit back and remind you to enjoy life. That to me is priceless.

The Salut festival is three days and has different themes.  Last night the chefs were asked to create a dish using the showcased wine, Fetzer Pino Grigio somewhere in their dish. It was fun to see how differently they used them.

The restaurants showcased were:

Splendidos

17 Noir

Langdon Hall

Brassaii

Crush Wine Bar

Four

Sen5es

They were all great. Some ofcourse better than others but I’m not a food critic. I will say my favourites though. The Fois Gras from Crush was awesome.  17 Noir’s ravioli that had the Pino Grigio and  honey  inside was great and was the most visually attractive plate but for overall taste and presentation, I have to give it to Four. They had a very Canadian plate. Fresh mackerel that was topped with shredded ham hock , a wild rice vinaigrette and potato chips.  Everything worked really well together. It was simple but oh so delicious!

Here are some of the highlights.

Thank you to my Dad (Tato)! We’ll be coming back next year!

The Rules for Shoes

 This post is dedicated to a client who recently asked me what to do about her awkward shoe dilemma. She was throwing a party that evening and it had been raining all day. She was worried that her guests would not be taking off their shoes and that she would have to spend the night running around and having that annoying conversation over and over again. Here’s what I suggested to her.

If you hate asking people and are your voice is getting hoarse from yelling across the room for new arrivals “take them off !” save yourself the stress! Get onto your computer and using a nice big font print up a sign saying something  like “Kindly remove your shoes”. Put in a nice frame and put it up somewhere near the doorway. This saves you that awkward conversation and has fairly warned each of your guests. It takes a few minutes but saves you the trouble all night.

If you are a guest remember this:

Every house party has different rules on shoes, that’s the rule. If you are going to go to a house party assume that you will be taking off your shoes so either bring a pair of clean flats, clean sox, nylons or an awesome pedicure and you will be prepared. If the host lets you keep your shoes on then there’s nothing to worry about. Men (and women) make sure your feet don’t stink. Change your sox or nylons before you get there and make sure they are clean and dry! Feet that wreak like stinky cheese is never a good impression to leave.

Another piece of advice that I have found useful is that girls tend to stress about leaving shoes in a pile of other shoes by a doorway somewhere, especially if they are a favourite pair, so come prepared. Don’t blame it on the host if you shoes get lost or damaged, they are just trying to keep their floor from being scraped and stomped on all night long. Bring a clean zippered bag of some sort that has your shoes and stash it somewhere where you will remember.  If you will be leaving the party, then a plastic bag that can be thrown in the recycling on the way out work just fine. You can label it if that makes you feel safer but the best part is your shoes will be fast to find and won’t be under a pile of sopping wet stilettos.

Hope that solves the shoes-off dilemma for good!

Happy Hosting!

A few days ago  I received a call from my uncle that he had been up to his cottage and managed to pick fresh morels and wild leeks in the surrounding forest. He asked if I wanted some. I nearly lost it. Morels are in season from April to June and if can get your hands on some fresh ones do it! These honey-comb like mushrooms love to grow in forests where there where previous forest fires. They are prized by cooks all over the world, especially France. They look so beautiful and unique, I think they are nature at it’s best.

Wild leeks can also be found abundantly in Ontario forests after the first signs of spring. They are often called ramps and can be found at local farmers markets at this time of year.  They have beautiful tender leaves that are great when wilted with a bit of butter. They have a mild garlicky taste and they compliment morels perfectly.

Treat the leeks as you would spinach but cut off the onion like bulbs. These bulbs are great for pickling but that’s another post.

Tonight I finally had a moment to enjoy these earthly pleasures and  had the best midnight snack,  it was better than I could have imagined.

Although they may look intimidating, morels are really easy to work with and really should be experienced at least once in your life.

My midnight meal consisted of;

Pan-fried morels, wilted leeks, shaved parmesan and balsamic reduction

Here’s how I prepared the morels

Cleaning the morels:

Soak Morels briefly in cold water with a tbs of salt, about 1 min

 Fresh morels will have dirt that hides in the crevices and even though I usually recommend just brushing mushrooms, these you need to wash.

Strain them and let them sit in a paper towel. Don’t squish them but let them dry off as much as you can.

Pan Fried Morels

• Heat a frying pan to high
• Prepare egg wash with 1 egg and 2 tbs water, whisk till smooth
• Dip the cleaned morels into the egg wash
• In a small bowl add a 1/3 cup flour or as need to coat the morels
• Roll the morels in the flour to coat them evenly
• Add a tbs of vegetable oil to the frying pan, once the oil is shimmering add the mushrooms
• Fry mushrooms till golden brown and then sprinkle them with salt
• Turn down the heat to low and add 1 tsp of butter
• Toss in the wild leeks  beside the mushrooms
• Stir them till they are wilted and then season them with salt and pepper.
• Finish with another teaspoon of butter
• Plate leeks, top with morels and shaved parmesan, drizzle with balsamic reduction

So delicious! You can taste the the fresh sweet earth in this meal and nothing can ever taste better than local food handpicked with love.

Thank you uncle Mike!

La Petite Chef is joining the modern world and will be launching an e-newsletter this month. You can find the link in the “About Us” page. In each article you can find helpful cooking tips, recipes, menu ideas, inspirations as well as what is hot in the food world right now. The newsletter is free so send us your e-mails!

Happy Hosting!!

La Petite Chef

Smoked Salmon Croque Madame and Citrus Salad

This recipe will be featured in our Mother’s Day newsletter. We love how this meal encapsulates a feel good brunch. The Croque Madame is elevated with smoked salmon and the citrus salads cuts through the decadent Swiss cheese, bechamel sauce and fried egg. We also paired it with our berry, granola, and yogurt parfait. Don’t forget the mimosa!

Smoked Salmon Croque Madame

Ingredients:
5 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup milk
8 slices whole grain bread
2 tablespoons grainy Dijon
5 ounces smoked salmon
¼ cup fresh dill, leaves pulled off (no need to chop them!)
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
4 eggs
Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Bechamel Sauce: Heat a small sauce pot to medium. Melt 1 tablespoon butter. When butter has melted add flour and stir with a whisk. Cook for about 30 seconds. Add milk a tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk. Incorporate milk between each addition or your sauce will be lumpy. One all the milk has been added and sauce is smooth, season with a pinch of salt and set aside.

2. Butter the rest of the bread with the remaining butter on one side of the bread only. Take 4 pieces of bread and spread Dijon on unbuttered side. Top with smoked salmon, a ¼ cup of cheese and sprinkle with dill and top with the rest of the bread.

3. Preheat oven broiler Place sandwiches on an oven tray. Spread 1 tablespoon of bechamel sauce on the top of the bread. Sprinkle each sandwich with the remaining cheese. Place the sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven, don’t place it too close to the top as it may burn.

4. Meanwhile, heat a non stick skillet on medium high. Spray with oil. Crack the egg. Cook until whites are set with yolk is still soft. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt.

5. Sandwiches are ready once cheese and sauce are browned and are bubbly. Remove and top with egg. Serve while still hot.

Citrus Salad

Ingredients:

1 large orange

1 large grapefruit

4 cups mixed greens

Dressing:

1 table spoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup citrus juice (save from orange and grapefruit)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp honey

salt and pepper

Method:

1. Add mixed greens in a bowl

2. To segment fruits cut the tops and bottoms off of the orange and grapefruit. Cut past the white pith (the white skin that is underneath the peel) until you see the flesh of the fruit. Place the fruits on a cutting board with a flat side down. Follow the curve of the fruits from top to bottom with a knife staying as close to the flesh as possible. Continue going around taking off the peel. You should end up with the orange and grape fruit peeled and without any white pith . To take out the segments look at the membranes which hold the segments in and cut in between. Cut on an angle so the segments can be removed. They should fall out if you go for enough. Keep a bowl underneath to capture any juice and the segments as they fall out and once all the segments are removed squeeze the leftover to ensure all the juice is saved.

3. Remove the citrus segments from the bowl with a slotted spoon and add to the salad.

4. In another bowl add the dijon mustard, honey and citrus juice. Whisk together and add olive oil while whisking. Season with salt and pepper

5. Dress salad with citrus dressing and serve immediately.