A Lunch in June

Cherry Tomatoes Topped with Cambazola 
Grilled Chicken Salad with Mangoes, Avocados & Cashews
Mixed Buns from Terra Breads
Mini Frangipane & Raspberry Tarts

Here is a lunch menu that I served to friends who came over from Victoria for the day. We were meeting at “Fly Over Canada” at Canada Place and returning to our home for lunch, so I wanted to have everything prepared in advance, with minimal final assembly required, so that we could sit down, relax, and enjoy the brief time together. The salad alone makes a quick dinner any night.

Cherry Tomatoes Topped with Cambazola

This is a very simple, but delicious and pretty-looking appetizer. You can prepare the cheese mixture a few days ahead of time, then bring it to room temperature to make it possible to spread onto the tomatoes. Assemble a few hours ahead, if desired, and keep covered until ready to serve. This dish came from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 4 by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer.

12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4-6 oz. cambazola cheese, room temperature (the quantity of cheese will depend on the size of the tomatoes)
2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
freshly ground black pepper
Italian parsley, for garnish

Mash together the cheese and butter and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste. Spread on halved tomatoes and garnish with parsley and more pepper.

Grilled Chicken Salad with Mangoes, Avocados & Cashews

I love all of the ingredients in this salad. They combine to provide a wonderful blend of colours, flavours and textures. This too can be prepared in advance: the dressing can be mixed several days ahead, and the chicken grilled and the rest of the salad ingredients combined in a bowl a few hours before slicing, tossing and plating. It is only slightly adapted from a recipe in Bonnie Stern’s Essentials of Home Cooking. The original recipe calls for grilled Calamari, but Bonnie suggests that chicken, shrimp or steak can also be used.

Honey Sesame Dressing
1/4 C. orange juice
2 T. rice vinegar
1 T. honey
1 clove garlic, minced or grated
1 t. salt
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 t. sesame oil

Salad
6 C. coarsely chopped radicchio
6 C. coarsely chopped curly endive
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 can (14 oz.) hearts of palm, drained and sliced
2 whole boneless chicken breasts
2 T. olive oil, 2 T. soy sauce, for chicken
salt and pepper to taste
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
1/2 C. toasted cashews

For Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, vinegar, honey, garlic and salt. Whisk in oils and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For Chicken: Drizzle chicken with olive oil and soy sauce. Season, then grill until just opaque. The most common complaint I hear about chicken breasts is that they tend to be dry. If you watch them and take them off the heat just before they turn completely opaque, they will continue cooking as they sit, and will stay moist. Set chicken aside until ready to slice and serve. Cover and chill if the salad is not being served within 1/2 hour.

For Salad: In a large bowl, combine salad greens, mango and hearts of palm. Toss with some of the dressing and season to taste. Arrange on plates and add sliced chicken, avocado and toasted cashews. Makes 6 luncheon sized salads.

Mini Frangipane & Raspberry Tarts

This recipe is from China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Tropp which makes one 9″ tart. I have adjusted the ingredients so that it makes 2 dozen mini tarts.

Frangipane
3/4 C. sliced almonds
1 T. + 2 t.flour
6 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 t. lemon zest
1 egg, beaten
1 t. lemon zest, grated
1/4 t. almond extract

Combine the almonds and flour in a food processor and process until finely ground but not oily. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth, then add the lemon zest and the beaten egg. Stir in the almond/flour mixture and the almond extract and beat until smooth. Use immediately, or cover and chill for up to a week, then bring to room temperature before using.

Pastry
3/4 c. + 2 T. flour
3 T. icing sugar
1/2 c. cold, unsalted butter

1/2 c. sliced almonds, for topping

Combine flour and icing sugar in bowl of food processor. Cut butter into cubes and add to dry ingredients. Process, on and off, until a soft cohesive dough forms. Taking about 1″ balls of dough at a time, press evenly into miniature muffin tins. Bake at 375ºF until starting to become golden brown, about 10 – 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in pan, then tap out onto a rack. When cool, carefully place
tart shells back into the tins. Place 1 raspberry in the centre of each tart, then fill the frangipane over and around it. Top with a few sliced almonds and bake at 375ºF until puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. Makes 2 dozen tarts.