In Argentina, grass-fed beef and chimichurri, a lively herb mixture, are nearly inseparable. Put them together in a sandwich with a few twists, and you’ve got a meal that satisfies a taste for adventure.
When shopping for brands of bread, look for those that list a whole grain such as whole wheat as the first ingredient and contain less sodium.
Per serving:
Place red onion slices in bowl, cover with cold water, and let soak for 30 minutes.
Season steak with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tsp (10 mL) grapeseed, sunflower, or camelina oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Place steak in skillet and cook for 4 minutes per side for medium rare, or until desired doneness. Remove steak from skillet and let rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing. Heat remaining 2 tsp (10 mL) oil in skillet and add sweet potato. Cook, stirring often, until potato is tender.
To make chimichurri sauce, place parsley, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper in bowl. Stir in olive or camelina oil and lemon juice. Stir in mayonnaise and horseradish.
Spread sauce on bottom bread slice. Top with sliced steak, sliced onion, and sweet potato. Spread more sauce on second slice of bread and place on sandwich.
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.