This refreshing take on salsa has just the right ingredients to make it delicious served with any dish. We’ve developed it for crusted chicken, but it’s equally delicious tumbled over cedar-planked salmon, pan-fried paneer, or on thick grilled slices of butternut squash.
Per serving:
Wash and hull strawberries. If berries are larger, cut into halves or quarters.
In large bowl, combine prepared strawberries, tomatoes, onion, oil, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Toss together and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes while preparing chicken.
In large bowl, combine yogurt, garlic, lemon zest, Italian seasonings, and salt. Stir to blend. Remove chicken tenders and reserve for another recipe. Add chicken breasts and work into yogurt mixture until breasts are evenly coated.
In wide, shallow bowl, place breadcrumbs. Dredge chicken in breadcrumbs to evenly coat. Line baking dish with parchment paper and place chicken in dish. Baking dish should be large enough to hold breasts in a single layer without touching. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Position oven racks in bottom and upper third of oven.
On oiled baking sheet, spread marinated berry mixture, scraping all the bits from bowl with spatula and stirring into berries. Place on bottom rack in oven and chicken on rack above. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until chicken tests 165 F (65 C) on meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion of breast. Stir berry salsa mixture a couple of times during baking to prevent it from burning on edges. Remove salsa from oven. Turn oven onto broil and lightly toast breaded chicken, if you wish.
Remove chicken and salsa from oven. Serve chicken alongside a green salad, such as a frisée lettuce mixture, and spoon berry salsa overtop. Dust with pepper and garnish, if you wish.
Tip
Make salsa ahead of time and, once cooled, store in a jar in the refrigerator for several days or longer. Add some slivered black olives for a little extra kick, if you wish.
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.