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Tarte Flambée

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Tarte Flambée | Korena in the KitchenTarte flambée, also known as flammekueche in Alsatian or flammekuchen in German, is a regional specialty of Alsace in the eastern-most corner of France bordering Germany and Switzerland. It is essentially a pizza topped with bacon and thinly sliced onions, and as such is totally something I can get behind. I first came across it at a local bakery/vineyard – I can’t actually remember if we tried it, but it stuck in my mind nonetheless, and soon after when I saw a recipe for tarte flambée appear on the Homesick Texan blog (with jalapenos added to Texan-ify it) I knew that I would eventually be making it myself.

Tarte Flambée | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Sourdough Rosette Buns

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Sourdough Rosette Buns | Korena in the KitchenAfter being sorely neglected the past month or so, my sourdough starter got a workout this weekend: not only did I make these sourdough buns, but I also baked Barbara’s Perfect Italian Sourdough Loaf and used a bunch of discard sourdough in a batch of waffles for the freezer. When the sourdough urge hits, it hits hard.

Sourdough Rosette Buns | Korena in the Kitchen

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Kate’s Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

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Kate's Rhubarb Upside Down Cake | Korena in the Kitchen

The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7, 2013. As we share our collective stories through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity. Visit Valerie’s blog, A Canadian Foodie, on the 15th for a round-up of this month’s posts.

May’s theme for the Canadian Food Experience Project is “The Canadian Garden”, which frankly seems like a bit of a joke at this time of the year. Even living in one of the most temperate places in the country (“Cowichan” means “The Warm Land” in the local First Nations language), my garden is mostly bare dirt at the moment… save for my rhubarb plant.

Rhubarb in my garden | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Kade’s Birthday Cake

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Baseball Birthday Cake | Korena in the KitchenAt the end of April our friends’ son, Kade, turned three. He had a birthday party in the park after his baseball game (seriously, can you imagine anything cuter than a bunch of three-year olds trying to play baseball?!), with hotdogs on the camping stove, lots of cut up fresh fruit and veggies, and a cake made by yours truly – I offered/begged his mom, and thankfully she took me up on it! She suggested a baseball-themed cake, and because Kade is super proud and excited to be on “Team Purple” (his team wears purple t-shirts), I decided to put his jersey (or a version of it) right on the cake.

Baseball Birthday Cake | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Petite Strawberry Frangipane Tart

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Petite Strawberry Frangipane Tart | Korena in the Kitchen

While local strawberries are still at least a month off, I admit to thoroughly enjoying the juicy red California-grown gems that have been showing up at the green grocer lately. I can’t help myself – this winter felt SO LONG and strawberries are like the breath of fresh air and ray of sunlight that I’m craving right now. And while they might not be local, they are at least in season, and for that I am grateful!

Petite Strawberry Frangipane Tart | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Daring Bakers: Ukrainian Easter Paska

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Ukrainian Paska | Korena in the KitchenThe April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.

While I don’t personally celebrate Easter in a religious sense, I do look forward to any holiday that has a food tradition to go with it (see: Christmas baking). Paska, a special Eastern European Easter bread, is one such food tradition, and the egg-rich Ukrainian version with its intricately decorated top is one that I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. This month’s challenge was the perfect opportunity to do it.

Ukrainian Paska | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Porchetta-style Roast Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde

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Porchetta-style Roast Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde | Korena in the Kitchen

I’ve had porchetta on the brain ever since watching the episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dive that featured the porchetta sandwich at Meat and Bread in Vancouver (I’m pretty sure Guy Fieri pronounced it as some combination of “too legit to quit”/”winner-winner-chicken-dinner”/”Flavourtown”). I’ve never been to Meat and Bread to sample their porchetta, but on Saturday of Easter weekend Nate and I checked out Roast Carvery in Victoria, which is a similar concept: big joints of beautifully roasted meat, sliced to order and piled on a soft and crusty artisan roll with minimal fuss for a truly transcendent sandwich experience. I had Roast’s version of the porchetta sandwich, featuring crispy crackling, provolone cheese, sautéed broccoli raab, and a good dose of salsa verde along with the succulent porchetta, and man oh man, I think it might have been the best sandwich I’ve ever had. So. Good.

(Also – the new Victoria Public Market at The Hudson where Roast is located is pretty rad! I could have spent an hour alone just tasting olive oils and vinegars (apricot white balsamic! cinnamon pear dark balsamic!) and definitely need to go back to browse through the whole place more thoroughly.)

Porchetta-style Roast Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Sourdough Cider Hot Cross Buns with Chocolate Chunks

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Sourdough Cider Hot Cross Buns with Chocolate Chunks | Korena in the KitchenAs I pointed out last month, Christmas cookies and hot cross buns are about the only seasonal things I manage to post about with any punctuality… and seeing as today is Easter Sunday, hot cross buns are most definitely on the menu. This month’s Sourdough Surprises project was sourdough hot cross buns, which I also tackled last year with a chocolate porter version. I decided to go a similar route this time around, adapting a recipe that used hard apple cider to make an overnight sourdough levain. And, because for me, Easter is all about chocolate, I added a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks to the dough.

Sourdough Cider Hot Cross Buns with Chocolate Chunks | Korena in the Kitchen…

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Lemon Caper Cream Cheese with Smoked Salmon

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Lemon Caper Cream Cheese with SeaChange Smoked Salmon - perfect for Easter brunch | Korena in the KitchenSome of you may remember that I did a few few guest posts a while back for SeaChange Seafoods, featuring their delicious smoked salmon (my personal favorites include recipes for fettuccine alfredo with smoked salmon, smoked salmon and corn chowder, and smoked salmon and roasted tomato quiche). Over the last six or so months, SeaChange has completely re-launched their brand, which includes all new packaging and a whole new website, and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in the process as their food stylist on several photoshoots, one of which took place in my dining room!

SeaChange photoshoot |Korena in the Kitchen

It’s been a blast working with a professional photographer (John Cameron) and taking cues from a real design company (Carter Hales Design Lab) to try to evoke a certain feeling or story with something as simple as a beautiful piece of smoked salmon, and I feel totally privileged that I’ve been getting paid to do something I love so much. Here are just a few of the images we’ve created so far:

SeaChange smoked salmon | Korena in the Kitchen

SeaChange pâté | Korena in the Kitchen

Smoked Salmon Salad | Korena in the Kitchen

SeaChange smoked salmon | Korena in the Kitchen(these four photos by John Cameron for SeaChange Seafoods)

Back in November, I also had the opportunity to cater SeaChange’s re-launch party. I traveled to Salt Spring Island, cooked my butt off all day, and served up a whole bunch of “small bites” featuring smoked salmon to about thirty people (and of course, wildly over-estimated how much food I’d need to make – but it’s better to have too much than not enough when it comes to feeding people, right?). I was so busy all day that the only thing I managed to take a picture of myself was this gigantic veggie platter – but it’s pretty, right?

veggie platter | Korena in the Kitchen

For the party, I made a few of the dishes that already appear on the SeaChange website (the aforementioned quiche, roast potato canapés with smoked salmon, and smoked salmon devilled eggs), along with a few new ones, including a delicious lemon caper cream cheese you can easily whip up to serve with smoked salmon – a perfect addition to an Easter brunch. I’m sharing the recipe today on SeaChange’s blog, so head on over to read it there. 🙂 (And watch this space for another guest post coming up in mid-June!)

Lemon Caper Cream Cheese with SeaChange Smoked Salmon - perfect for Easter brunch | Korena in the Kitchen

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All content © Korena Vezerian and Korena in the Kitchen, 2011 – 2021. Please contact me before duplicating any content, including pictures. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Korena Vezerian and Korena in the Kitchen with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.