Chez Cora Experience

Do you ever go to a restaurant and your meal (or neighbours meal) is so fantastic that you try and figure out how to replicate it as soon as you get home?

I went to Cora's for lunch with my family a couple weeks ago and I forgot how delicious (and presentable) their food can be! I have not had a bad experience in the past but the odd time that I have made out to the french corner of our city to indulge in the treats they serve, I can always depend on the 30-45 minute wait to be seated and then another 30-45 minute wait to get the food.

While everyone else around the table chose french toast, crepes and eggs benedict I opted to try for some fruit... a star fruit breakfast perhaps...

Strawberry and blueberries mixed in a cream cheese and yogurt madness creation topped with granola has everyone around me salivating. I wasn't prepared to share. The presentation alone was gorgeous and I was too afraid to dig because I didn't want to disrupt this creation. The photos really don't do it any justice.  It was delightful and the berries tasted fresh and it was extremely filling. I probably met the Canadian Food Guide criteria for daily fruit intake by 4 or 5 servings too much!

My mother ordered a vegetable skillet. There were hash browns topped with an assortment of veggies and topped with a sunny side up egg. It looked incredible and that is what inspired my dinner for that evening. 

I had to create my own recipe. I decided to use sweet potatoes since I picked some up from Superstore earlier in the week. It's also a complex carb - bonus!

 

Yup, I had to buy the largest one I can find.

I cut up the entire oversized sweet potato in chunks and placed them in a pot of boiling water.

I started on my veggies which included carrots, cauliflower, carrots and corn that were cut up bite size. For seasoning, I used some all-seasoning that enhanced the flavour of the vegetables. I didn't cook them all the way through since I wanted the veggies to remain crunchy.

Once the potatoes were cooked, I drained the excess water and put about half of the quantity that it was cooked into a frying pan with butter and salt and pepper. 

Once the potatoes were browning, I put them into two separate casserole dishes with the intent to freeze the smaller casserole dish. 

I topped the sweet potato with the cooked veggies. 

Remember that generous amount of cheese I was sold from La Grotta Market that I blogged about during my Mac n' Cheese post? There was some left over smoked gouda, parmesan and jack cheddar over top of the veggies.

At 350 degrees in the oven for 20 minutes, voila!

The veggies were still crunchy and with the cheese, especially eating this mix right out of the oven was really great. It was a flavour explosion with great texture! M. ended up eating the little casserole dish too. No left overs... which is a good sign!