The focus for this year’s Food Revolution Day is about sharing the power of cooking, the benefits of cooking from scratch and, ultimately showing people that changing our food choices can make us both healthier and happier. Instead of one official recipe as there has been in years past, this year, we have a set of 10 recipes chosen by Jamie Oliver that he deems the “Starter Pack of Cooking. Each recipe covers a different skill and technique that can give anyone the confidence to cook good, real, healthy meals for themselves and their families, for now and the future. Jamie has spoken about the idea of ten recipes to save your life since his TED talk in 2010 and this semester Les Petits Chefs will be working with chefs from around Toronto who will cook THEIR “must know” recipes with the boys.
Now, last time we visited Lisa Marie and cooked with Chef Matt Basile, chef/ owner of Lisa Marie restaurant and the popular food truck, Priscilla, he promised the boys “deep fried cheeseburgers” (actually, he’s always promising them that!). It’s the sort of over-the-top comfort food that they serve at Lisa Marie and it’s definitely a once-in-a-while treat, and not a “must make”. So when we were brainstorming ideas for what he could make for our trip last week, we hit upon “sandwiches”. Simple, no? Well, yes and no. We decided that a “really good sandwich” was definitely something the boys should have in their repertoire and Matt promised to teach them the secrets to the “ultimate” sandwich.
Matt is a rock star with a deep fryer in the Petits Chefs’ eyes. He is popularly known in cooking club circles as “deep fried pizza guy” because the first time we visited, the boys made deep fried mini meatball pizzas, but the fun didn’t stop there. The next visit, we made Buffalo chicken patty melts, then bacon and egg nachos and in the fall, we made fish tacos. The boys LOVE visiting Lisa Marie for so many reasons – the food, the fact that Matt is so much fun and there is interesting graffiti to read on the way to the washroom 😉
On this visit, we started out with a little stress relief, aka pounding steak to tenderize it and make it thin so it would cook quickly…
We seasoned the steaks and let them marinade for a few minutes. The boys insisted on adding chili flakes…
I supervised one of the boys cutting onions whilst Matt showed the boys how to make a fabulous tomatillo salsa (the pièce de résistance on this sandwich as far as I am concerned!)… No photos of this as it was whizzed up in the Robot Coupe before I made my way to that area of the kitchen!
With our sauce made and our steak, onions, eggs and brioche buns on the grill, it was looking pretty tasty in there…
Then the fun part – constructing the sandwiches…
Lettuce, tomato, steak, cheese, tomatillo salsa, some tortilla chips for crunch (texture is SO important in a good sandwich) and finally, a fried egg… I mean, what more could you want on your sandwich?
Our pescatarian Petit Chef got a fish sandwich – all the same components (but no cheese) and he was thrilled with his sandwich too…
We’re so grateful (as always) to Matt for taking the time out of his day to work with the boys – particularly since he had been up since 4am and on a 6am catering job (for the Mayor, no less!). One of the hardest working people I know, yet always smiling and happy to help show the next generation how to make really, really good food.
Lisa Marie (website)
638 Queen St West
Toronto, ON M6J1E3
(647) 748-6822
Purchase Matt’s Street Food Diaries for yourselves on Amazon (this link should take you to the Amazon store closest to you). Or for free worldwide shipping, The Book Depository
Please note: The product links from Amazon, Amazon.ca and The Book Depository are affiliate links, meaning if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price which goes towards maintaining eat. live. travel. write. Thank you in advance!
I want one of those burgers NOW. Fantastic piece.
The sandwiches were VERY good!
It’s so nice that Les Petits Chefs are asked to make return visits to restaurants for more hands on learning. Their burgers looks mouth watering. Kudos to them, you and to Chef Matt for another wonderful experience.
We are so lucky people want to work with them!