Recipe Book
Guest Favourites from Our Chefs
Enjoy the Hummingbird Chef’s Table at home with recipes from our chefs! Check back as we add some more guest favourites to the ‘recipe book’.
Mojo Chicken Empanadas
Ingredients
- 1lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thigh
- ½ cup Orange Juice
- ¼ cup Lime Juice
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 bunch Cilantro Leaves (about 1 cup)
- 2 tbsp Fresh Oregano
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp Coriander
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Clean skin and fat off of chicken thighs and place in a medium bowl. In a blender, puree the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth texture. Pour pureed ingredients over chicken and let marinate 1 hour. After 1 hour remove chicken from marinade and place in a Sauté pan over medium/high heat, caramelize each side and cook until internal temperature reaches 165. Add the remaining marinade to sauté pan with chicken and bring to a simmer, removing from heat as soon as it boils. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.
Place chicken on a cutting board or into a food processor and dice into fine shreds. Add back to the bowl with the marinade and stir until well combined.
Roll out empanada dough into ¼” thickness and cut into 6” rounds. Place 1 large heaping spoonful into each round and fold the edges into creases. If you are having trouble with an empanada crease a fork will do just fine. Refrigerate for one hour after empanadas are formed.
If you’re making our Mango-Poblano Salsa, skip to the next tab to prepare now while your empanadas are chilling in the fridge. Pop back here when you’re ready to cook your empanadas!
Preaheat oil in a fryer or saucepan to 350 degrees, place a few empanadas into the fryer making sure not to overload. Flip partway through to evenly cook sides, this should take about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Empanada Dough
If you’re in a pinch you can always use pie crust dough, but this quick and easy recipe produces a dough that works perfectly with our filling above!
Simply mix your dry ingredients, add your wet ingredients, mix until a consistent dough forms and chill for 30 minutes before using.
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup water
Mango-Poblano Salsa
Blister the poblano pepper over burner or under the broiler until the skin is black. Dice the mango, poblano and red onion and add to a bowl. Mince the garlic and add. Add the rest of the ingredients and set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Serve with Mojo Chicken Empanadas above!
Ingredients
- 2 Ripe mango
- 2 Poblano pepper
- ½ red onion
- 2 limes
- 2 lemon
- 2 clove garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Key Lime Cheesecake
Crust
- 2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
Filling
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3 x 8 oz pkgs. cream cheese, softened well but not melted
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup fresh lime or key lime juice
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Toppings
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- Fresh raspberries or sliced strawberries, lime wedges, lime zest and fresh mint – get creative!

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a sheet of 18 by 18 heavy duty aluminum foil. Add the graham crackers and sugar to a mixing bowl and stir to combine, then add butter and mix with a fork until evenly moistened. Pour into prepared springform pan and press evenly into bottom and up the sides coming about 1-inch from the top. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Prepare a large roasting pan and boil about 4 quarts of water (you may not need all of it).
For the cheesecake filling:
In a small mixing bowl whisk ther granulated sugar and cornstarch until well combined. Add the cream cheese to a large mixing bowl, pour sugar mixture over top and using an electric hand mixer to blend the mixture until smooth.
Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Add sour cream and heavy cream and mix until combined.
Add lime juice and vanilla and mix. Tap bowl forcefully against countertop about 30 times to release any large air bubbles.
Pour the mixture over the cooled graham cracker crust. Place cheesecake in roasting pan then place roasting pan in oven and carefully pour in enough boiling water around cheesecake pan to reach halfway up the side of the pan.
Bake in preheated oven until cheesecake is nearly set but still jiggly in the center, about 60 – 65 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Cover and chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.
For the topping:
In a medium mixing bowl whip heavy cream using an electric hand mixer set on high speed until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe over cheesecake just before serving. Garnish with berries, lime wedges, lime zest and mint – it’s your chance to get creative! Store cheesecake in refrigerator.
Visiting and interested in booking a private chef? Get in touch!
What’s Next?
Please visit our Private Chef Page and submit a request or reach out via email, phone or text and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
We look forward to serving you!



