Chicken Souvlaki

Chicken souvlaki is one of the easiest things to make and is always so, so delicious.  It’s the staple of any good Greek feast, there are few things I love more than a giant Greek feast. I recommend serving the souvlaki alongside some tzatziki, lemon rice pilaf, perfect roasted potatoes and a big, fresh salad with lots of feta and a zippy dressing.  Try and get your hands on some Loukoumades to really round things out.  For the souvlaki, I like to just chop up some boneless skinless chicken breast, mix it with a marinade of olive, lemon juice, chopped garlic, some kosher salt and black pepper and about a teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, thyme and dill.  If you have fresh herbs on hand, even better.

Souvlaki marinade

You can throw the mix in a frying pan or skillet…

Chicken Souvlaki

…or thread it on some skewers for the BBQ!

Souvlaki skewers

Get some other Greek goodies prepped too.

Greek Feast in progress

Grilled veggies would also be amazing with this.

Grilled Veggies

Get ready for your feast!

Greek Feast

Chicken Souvlaki Recipe

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp rosemary1 tsp parsley
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dill
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Mix chicken breast with olive oil and spice mixture.  Use right away or let marinade for up to 24 hours.  Fry in a pan or skillet, bake in the oven at 350 degrees, or BBQ skewers until chicken is no longer pink inside, about 10 – 15 minutes.

Fraser Café

I’ve decided that brunch is definitely one of my four favourite meals.  I love everything about it.  Like the fact that someone serves you a fancy breakfast, and that it usually means you get to sleep in.   Fraser Café stepped in to fulfill my brunch needs one recent rainy Sunday, and after being on my to-try list for ages it turned out to be as good as I had heard.  As a matter of fact, it has made it’s way onto my to-return-to-very-quickly-list, and the I-have-to-try-it-for-dinner-too list.   Being on a never ending quest for delicious food means having a lot of lists in your life.

Let’s start with the menu.  I took a picture because there was maybe only one thing I wouldn’t have ordered (the trout, just can’t do fish), and I had a tough time deciding on just one thing.  Like I told the waiter, “I’ll need a few more minutes please, but I’ve got it narrowed down to about six things!”   There is so much potential deliciousness to be had at this restaurant, it was the toughest decision I made all Sunday.

Frasier Café Brunch Menu

I decided to go with the standard eggs.  Crazy, I know.  They were fluffy and egg-y (surprisingly, not always a quality you find with eggs), and they were served on the side of a roasted tomato and on top of a nest of cheese curds.  There were also AMAZING roasted potatoes and home made fennel sausage.   And some Green Tea to wash it all down 🙂  There was nothing standard about this meal!

Frasier Café Scrambled Eggs

I took a halfway-done shot so you could see the nest of cheese curds in action.

Scrambled Eggs Action Shot

The very generously portioned breakfast sandwich was excellent too – I got a few bites 🙂

Frasier Café Breakfast Sandwich

The Croque Monsieur was not on the menu, but one of the specials….this obviously made the ordering decision more complicated.  It got rave reviews too!

Croque Monsieur

In the end I actually got to order two things off their menu because there was no way I wasn’t trying the homemade doughnuts.    They were warm from the oven and tossed in cinnamon and sugar, with chocolate mocha dipping sauce on the side.  Speechless.

Homemade Doughnuts w/ chocolate mocha dipping sauce

Steak and Potato Salad with Spicy Caeser Dressing

Salad can be delicious!  Especially when you top it with steak, roasted potatoes and homemeade croutons!  OK, I really don’t have a problem with salad, but these things only help the situation.  You know what else helps the situation?  The spicy Caesar dressing.  It’s easy to whip up and keeps really well, so you can use it for delicious lunches all week!

Here’s how you make it happen:  start by throwing some egg yolks into a bowl.

Egg yolks for the dressing

Whisk in some garlic, chipotle peppers, lemon juice and a bunch of other good stuff.  You’ll be left with a gorgeous and flavourful dressing.

Chipoltle Caeser Dressing

Line everything up that you’d like to have in your salad.  FYI there are also perfect roasted potatoes in the oven at this time 🙂  I also used the home made croutons from this Panzanella Salad recipe.  Don’t underestimate the tastebud pleasing power of the home made crouton!

Salad Ingredients

Once the potatoes are ready to go, throw everything onto a big plate.  This is a dinner entree, so don’t be shy, pile it on!

This what the vegetarian version would look like:

Steakless version. AKA, Roasted Potato and Homemade Crouton Salad

The non-vegetarian version looks like pretty good too!  Just add some steak and drizzle on some of the dressing.   Now you get to eat!!

Spicy Steak and Potato Spicy Salad

Steak and Potato Salad Recipe

2-3 cups mixed greens (arugula, if at all possible)
Small seasoned and grilled flank steak, sliced
¼ cup perfect roasted potatoes
¼ cup homemade croutons
½ red pepper, sliced
¼ cup feta cheese
Sliced red onion (optional)
1.  Toss all ingredients together, drizzle with Spicy Caesar Salad Dressing and serve!
Spicy Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp Worcestershire
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the minced garlic to a bowl.  Throw in the Dijon, add the egg yolks and whisk to combine.
2. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and add the Worcestershire sauce.
3. Mince up the chipotle peppers and add them to the dressing.
4. Whisk it all together, then begin drizzling in the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly to thicken.
5. Slowly but surely, it will turn into a nice thick dressing.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Cover and refrigerate until needed.