Chefs’ favourite recipes
Going for brunch has never been more popular and we have never had so many delicious options—from casual, morning-after eggs and coffee to dress-up, special occasion dining. It’s also a terrific way to entertain at home. We asked several of our favourite brunch spots to share a recipe.
Rye Crèpes
Roger Letourneau, Bar Clementine
| 155 grams | (1½ c) rye flour |
| 325 grams | (2½ c) all-purpose flour |
| 1 t | salt |
| 6 | eggs |
| 900 ml | water |
| 160 grams | (⅔ c) melted butter |
| 1 oz | rhum |
Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix eggs with melted butter and rhum. Combine the water with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Add the egg, butter, rhum and mix well. Let sit overnight in the fridge, or at least 1 hour.
To make crèpes
Thin out the batter with water until the consistency of cream.
Heat a frying pan with a teaspoon of oil on medium high. Once heated, ladle a small amount of batter into the pan and lift up and tilt all the way around to help spread the batter. If it’s too thick, thin out again with water. Once browned on one side add a little more oil and flip over to brown the other side.
You can serve this with eggs and ham or sauté some stone fruits in butter and syrup to pair with it. Makes about 20 crèpes.
French Toast with Bourbon Bananas Foster
Chef Steve Buzak, Royal Glenora Club
| 1 c | heavy (33-35 per cent) cream |
| 8 | eggs |
| 1 | double shot espresso (optional) |
| 5 ml | sugar |
| 900 ml | water |
| 2 T | vanilla |
| 30 ml | butter |
| 1 lg | sourdough baguette (chef picks up from Boulangerie Bonjour Bakery) |
Mix cream, egg, espresso, sugar and vanilla together and set aside.
Slice baguette on a bias 1-inch thick by 5 inches long (12 slices). Place the bread in the egg mixture and let sit on both sides until soaked through. Remove the bread to allow the excess mixture to run off.
Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until the butter is melted and begins to simmer. Place slices in the pan, do not crowd and cook in the pan until the toast is golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.
Serves 4-6
Bourbon Bananas Foster Sauce
| 100 ml | unsalted butter |
| 300 ml | packed light brown sugar |
| 3 | medium-ripe bananas cut into 1-inch slices |
| ½ c | bourbon |
Pre-heat a large sauté pan, add butter and heat until it simmers, but don’t let it brown. Add brown sugar and whisk until melted and thickened slightly. Add bananas and cook until they start to soften. Add bourbon and continue to cook until the alcohol is cooked out, about 3-5 minutes.
To serve: Remove French toast from the oven, plate and spoon over bananas and sauce. Serve extra sauce on the side. Garnish with berries and mint if you like and enjoy with some crispy bacon.
Serves 4-6.
Chicken with Ginger Lemon Glaze and Candied Jalapenos
Executive sous chef Leanne Kitagawa, La Ronde in the Chateau Lacombe
| 6 | chicken breasts |
| candied jalapenos (recipe follows) | |
| lemon ginger glaze (recipe follows) |
Candied Jalapenos
| 1 c | fresh jalapenos, sliced |
| ¼ c | white balsamic vinegar |
| ¾ c | sugar |
| 1 stick | cinnamon |
| 2 whole | cloves |
| 1 | star anise |
Save the jalapeno syrup for margaritas.
Bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil and simmer. Slice the jalapenos ⅛ of an inch thick and remove seeds if desired. Add the jalapenos to the syrup and bring to boil. Simmer until the peppers lose their bright green colour, about 4 minutes. Remove the peppers from the syrup and set aside. Boil the syrup for 15 minutes to reduce and pour back over the peppers. Cool. Best if made at least a few days ahead.
Lemon Ginger Glaze
| 1 | onion, rough chopped |
| 6 cloves | garlic, smashed |
| 4 1″ pcs | ginger root, smashed |
| juice and zest of 1 lemon | |
| 4 c | water |
| 3 T | honey |
| 1 T | cornstarch |
Add onion, garlic, ginger and lemon zest to a pot and cover with water. Simmer for an hour and reduce to 1 cup. Strain. Return liquid to the pot and add lemon juice and honey to taste. Thicken with a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water, whisked).
To serve: Season six chicken breasts with salt and lemon pepper. Roast. Glaze chicken and garnish with candied jalapenos.
Serves 6 or 6-10 on a buffet.
Lion’s Head-Style Meatball with Sunnyside Egg
Andrew Fung, chef/proprietor XIX
| 4 oz | ground smoked bacon |
| 6 oz | ground lamb |
| 6 oz | ground beef chuck |
| 1 c | chopped green onion |
| 2 T | cornstarch |
| 1 T | brown sugar |
| 1 T | red wine |
| 1 T | minced roasted garlic |
| 1 T | grated fresh ginger |
| 2 T | soy sauce |
| 1 T | salt |
| ½ t | sesame oil |
| 1 | egg |
Put all ingredients in a small mixer. Mix well and form into 5-oz. meatballs. Reserve.
Make a tomato sauce from 2 oz olive oil, 500 ml canned cherry tomato, 2 cloves garlic, salt to taste and braise the meat balls in the sauce for 15 minutes.
Serve with a sunny side egg.
Serves 4.
Red Eggs Bennie on Potato Sourdough with Frijole, Fuge Chorizo
Stuart Whyte, Dogwood Riverside Chef and Founder of Original Redhead Condiments
Yes, this recipe is long. However, several steps (hollandaise sauce and the beans) can be done ahead of time. All you need to worry about in the morning is cooking the sausage, poaching the eggs and making the toast.
Salsa Roja Hollandaise
| 2 T | Original Red Head Condiment Salsa Roja |
| 6 lg | eggs, yolks only |
| 1 T | apple cider vinegar |
| 1 sm | mulato chile, toasted and ground |
| 1 sm | chipotle chile, toasted and ground |
| 1 T | honey |
| salt to taste | |
| 1 c | unsalted butter, cubed |
Combine all ingredients except the butter in a food processor and blend on high. While your ingredients are blending, heat your cubed butter in a pan on high until it reaches its boiling point. Remove from heat, and pour contents (milk fats and all) into a measuring cup with a spout. With your egg mixture still blending and your butter still extremely hot, begin to slowly pour your scaldingly hot butter into the egg mixture in the food processor. As you pour the hot butter into the mix, your eggs will begin to cook and thicken. Set aside.
Tips from chef: The slower you pour a steady stream, the thicker and more stable your mixture will become. If you pour too quickly, your mixture will split and your sauce will break.
| 3 c | black turtle beans soaked for 12 hours |
| 4 cloves | garlic |
| 2 sm | white onions |
| 1 piece | each dried morita, mulato, chipotle, ancho and New Mexico chilies (take off stems) |
| ¼ c | canola oil |
| 1½ T | cumin, toasted and ground |
| 2 T | allspice, ground |
| 1 T | coriander toasted and ground |
| 1 c | apple cider vinegar |
| water to cover | |
| salt to taste |
Heat a medium size pot, add oil and bring to its smoking point.
Add onions and garlic to the oil and cook until translucent. Add the chilies to pan and toast until they start to inflate. Stir beans into the onions and chilies until mixed. Add spices, vinegar and enough water to just cover the beans. Cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Remember to stir occasionally to reduce the chances of beans sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching. Remove from heat once beans are cooked. They should squish between your thumb and forefinger. Use your food processor to blend until smooth add salt to taste. Reserve. Keeps for about a week.
To serve: Building your Benny
| 2-4 | Fuge chorizo verde*, uncased and chopped |
| 4 slices | potato sourdough |
| 4 | soft-poached eggs |
| pickled onions, cojita cheese (a hard Mexican cheese, similar to feta) and green onions for garnish. |
Start by sautéing your chorizo verde from Fuge Fine Meats.
While the sausage is cooking, toast 4 pieces of potato sourdough from Bonjour Bakery. This stuff is to die for, big chunks of potato, fluffy innards and a crust that is so… crusty; you know what I mean. Toast those suckers until they are golden brown, slice in half and place on your plate.
Cover your toast with frijole, then dish on the chorizo and top with your softpoached egg. I slather hollandaise all over my bennies… so do the same.
Garnish with pickled onions, cojita cheese and some green onions. Serves 4.
* Various Fuge sausage are available at Bon Jour Bakery, call first.
Roasted Little Potatoes
“We use Little Potato Company potatoes for this recipe, because although they are a little potato they are fully matured. In addition there is no washing, they are ready to go right out of the bag! Tip: potatoes must be dry, otherwise they will steam not roast.” Brad Smoliak, Kitchen by Brad
| 2 lb | little potatoes |
| 2 T | canola oil/cold pressed |
| 1-2 t | kosher salt or Malden salt |
| ½ t | coarse-ground black pepper |
Cut potatoes in half and toss with 1 T canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the potatoes in a 400ºF oven, on a unlined baking sheet, for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden and fork tender. Toss with cold-pressed canola oil, season. Serve on the side for brunch. They are also great at room temperature.
Horseradish Sour Cream Dip
| 1 T | buttermilk |
| 1 c | whipping cream |
Blend all the ingredients together in a metal bowl. Adjust seasoning. Refrigerate until needed, great on potatoes, no matter how you serve them.
Crème Fraiche
Mix the two, place in a jar with a tightfitting lid and leave in a warm spot for 24 hours. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Flavour with horseradish, mustard, can be stirred and cooked in sauces too.
Italian-style Breakfast Carrot and Almond Cake
Italians are not known for a big hearty breakfast, often it’s coffee and a brioche, and cake. Podere san Quirico, an agriturismo in Castelnuovo Berardenga near Siena, served several delicious cakes at breakfast. These two were favourites during our stay.
| 2 c | whole blanched almonds (10 ounces) |
| 1½ c | sugar |
| ¾ c | flour |
| 2½ T | baking powder |
| ½ T | finely grated lemon zest |
| salt | |
| 3 lg | carrots (10 ounces), coarsely chopped |
| 4 lg | eggs, separated |
| icing sugar for dusting (optional) |
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Toast the almonds for about 8 minutes, or until lightly browned. When cool, grind almonds with the sugar to a fine powder in a food processor. Do not let the nuts turn into a paste.
Add carrots to a food processor and chop until very fine. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan.
Whisk flour with the baking powder, lemon zest and pinch of salt. Add ground almonds to the flour mixture. Add carrots and the egg yolks to the bowl and stir until blended.
In a large stainless steel bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold into the flour mixture onethird at a time until the batter is just blended.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is just set. Let the cake cool in the pan, then unmold onto a serving plate. The cake can be wrapped in foil and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Just before serving, sift icing sugar over the top if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 6-8.
Michela’s Chocolate Breakfast Cake
| 3 | eggs |
| 120 g | sugar |
| 120 g | melted butter |
| 150 g | melted dark chocolate |
| 80 g | flour |
| 1 pkg | yeast (approximately 17gr) |
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a mixing bowl mix eggs with sugar. Add the flour and the yeast. Mix again, then add melted butter and chocolate. Mix all together and put in a baking tin, about 24 cm. diameter. (Usually I use the baking paper to cover the tin otherwise use the butter and flour) and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes; check for doneness with a toothpick. The cake will rise and fall down when it comes out of the oven.
Serves 6-10.