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Pumpkin, Sausage and Sage Risotto

June 11, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 2 Comments

Do you remember the days before the Food Network? Before Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and Top Chef and Cupcake Wars and Giada Di-Whatshername and Iron Chef, when channels like the Knowledge Network and KCTS9 aired cooking shows of the same calibre as Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting? I loved those shows. I used to sit in front of the TV, watching, with a pen and paper to write down the recipe and ingredients because there was no internet to get it from after the show. This risotto is based on a recipe from a show called Nick Stellino’s Family Kitchen, and believe it or not, the original recipe is now available on the internet!

After making Nick’s recipe several times, I’ve taken those flavours and put them into my basic risotto method. It comes out just as delicious but in a smaller, easier to manage quantity. If you’ve never made risotto, you should give it a try – it takes a while but is not actually difficult to make, and the results are worth it: creamy, flavourful, carbohydrate-laden deliciousness. Risotto is made of simple things – essentially just it’s rice and stock – so it’s important to pay attention to the ingredients. Use a flavourful stock, either homemade or good quality store bought. Don’t use bouillion cubes – your risotto will taste terrible. I know this from unfortunate experience :(. The rice must be specific for making risotto: short-grained round, Italian rice, and it will probably say “risotto” on the package. Arborio rice is the type I can usually find, but Carnaroli is another choice. Other kinds of rice (sushi, long grain, etc) won’t work.

“Arborio Rice – Ideal for Risotto”

And a quality parmesan (Parmegiano-Reggiano, if you can get it) makes a big difference in taste (I’ll admit that I used Canadian Parmesan for this because I’m feeling poor, but normally I’d splurge!).

Also important to note: this recipe calls for canned pumpkin purée, NOT pumpkin pie filling.

This packaging is somewhat misleading because it shows a slice of pumpkin pie, but the label reads “100% Pumpkin”

Make sure you read the ingredients on the package – it should be just pumpkin, no sugar or spices or anything else pie-like.

Nothing but pumpkin

If you are feeling industrious, you could steam some squash and make your own purée (about 1 cup), but I find opening a can to be much easier 😉

And I realize that these flavours might seem more suited to fall cooking, but my sage plant is currently sprouting leaves like mad so I figured this would be a good way to use up some of the bounty!…

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: cooking, dinner, food, italian, pumpkin, recipe, rice, risotto, sage, sausage, squash

Cinco de Mayo Fajitas!

May 5, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 1 Comment

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Today I made flank steak fajitas with purple cabbage slaw for dinner. They are so simple that they don’t really require a recipe, so what follows is more of a guideline. The first time I made these was a few years ago during Earth Hour, when you are supposed to turn off all the lights, so I was literally making them in the dark (well, by candlelight) – but they were so easy to make that it didn’t matter. They were also delicious, and have become my favorite Mexican-ish dish to make at home.

If the thought of cabbage in a fajita weirds you out, you just have to trust me. It is tossed with lime juice and salt and pepper, and the fresh crunch of the tangy cabbage slaw is fantastic in the fajita – a nice change from lettuce. Please try these – you will not be sorry!

I like to use flank steak because it is relatively cheap and flavourful and is conducive to being sliced thinly, but obviously you can use whatever kind of steak you like. I upped the ante by making homemade tortillas, seeing as it’s Cinco de Mayo and all. They were really good and added a nice chewy texture to the juicy steak and crunchy cabbage….

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: beef, cabbage, Cinco de Mayo, cooking, dinner, fajitas, food, grill, grilled, Mexican, recipe, steak

Kale Tops and Spicy Peanut Stir Fry Sauce

April 15, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen Leave a Comment

I love spring. I love the warmer weather (well, slightly warmer – it’s still pretty darn cold out around here!), the longer days, the crocuses and cherry blossoms, the singing birds… but what I’m really appreciating this spring, more than usual perhaps, is the abundance of gorgeous, fresh, spring vegetables that are available – many of them local. At The Root Cellar, which is a super awesome green grocer in Victoria that you should definitely check out if you have not already, they stock all kinds of fantastic local spring produce, some of it fairly standard – chard, parsley, butter lettuce – and some of it more unusual – sorrel, collard greens, and kale tops. Most of the local greens in stock at the moment are from Vantreight Farms, best known for all those daffodils.

Anyway. The other day I was at The Root Cellar, browsing for dinner ideas, and I saw these kale tops. I am a big fan of brassicas (the broccoli family – my Dad calls them broccolids) so I was intrigued. Essentially, this is kale that is going to seed and is just about to burst into flower – probably not something that most people would think to eat, and definitely the first time I’ve ever seen it in a store – but why not? They looked so beautiful, green and crisp and fresh… so I brought some home to try….

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: cooking, dinner, food, kale tops, peanut butter, recipe, spring, stir-fry, vegetables

Pork Tenderloin with Honeyed Butter and Sage and Perfect Roast Potatoes

April 14, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 8 Comments

This pork tenderloin is delicious. Honey-y and butter-y and sage-y and delicious. The recipe is adapted from my trusted friend Martha (I added the sage – rosemary or thyme would probably be really good as well), and as usual, she did not disappoint. This is easy enough for a weeknight but tasty enough for company. I can’t think of anything else to say, other than DELICIOUS.

The roast potatoes are adapted from Clothilde’s roast potatoes on Chocolate & Zucchini. I think her original recipe has the oven temperature a bit higher, but I find that they roast better at 375˚ F. The trick is parboiling the spuds, then draining them and giving them a good shake (with the lid on!) to bash them around a bit and create a soft, slightly mashed layer on the outside of each potato piece that gets nice and crunchy in the oven. Preheating the oil (I hear duck fat makes the best roast potatoes!) in the oven ensures that the spuds don’t soak up too much oil. It might sound complicated, but it’s really not, and it’s definitely worth the extra steps of parboiling and shaking! (Actually the shaking part is pretty fun 😉 )…

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups, Sides & Snacks Tagged With: butter, cooking, dinner, food, honey, pork tenderloin, recipe, roast potatoes, sage

Beef Stroganoff

April 2, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

I was craving something rich, creamy, and savoury the other evening, and this hit the spot. I’m quite sure that this is not “authentic” beef stroganoff, but then I’m not really sure what is – as far as I can tell, there’s no “traditional” recipe: it’s just beef and mushrooms in a sour cream sauce over noodles, and the variations are pretty endless. I’ve never had it made for me by anyone else, so I have nothing to compare to, but this tasted pretty darn good. I looked at a few recipes online for inspiration, and this is what I came up with 🙂 I used flank steak, but I’m sure any kind of steak would be fine – probably ground beef would work too! Shiitake mushrooms would be a great addition to this dish….

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: beef, Beef Stroganoff, dinner, mushrooms, noodles, sour cream, steak

Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash

March 16, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 7 Comments

Nate and I both agree that this is some of the best macaroni and cheese ever. The base for the sauce is butternut squash, chicken stock, and milk, rather than a flour-butter-milk white sauce. For me, the healthy addition of the squash makes it totally acceptable to add more cheese 😉 If you want a creamy sauce (or want to disguise the fact that there’s a vegetable hidden in it!), puree it in a blender. For more texture and evidence of squash, mash roughly with a fork or potato masher. Both ways are delicious. Although it probably doesn’t actually make a difference in taste, my favorite pasta to use for this is large shells. For the picture above, I stirred about 1/3 cup of chopped cooked bacon into the sauce. Pasta plus cheese plus bacon equals love 🙂

Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash

Modified slightly from my good friend Martha’s recipe

2 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash

1/2 cup chicken stock or water

3/4 cup milk

Combine the above in a pot, cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat (to avoid boiling over). Turn to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the squash is tender. Remove from the heat, mash/puree, and add:

A dash each of nutmeg and cayenne (or chipotle powder)

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or a mix of your favorite easily melted cheeses)

1/2 cup ricotta or cream cheese

Meanwhile, cook pasta:

about 3 cups raw/dry if the pasta is large (such as large shells or penne)

OR about 2 cups raw/dry elbow macaroni (or other short, dense pasta such as small shells)

OR enough to fill up a 9” square baking dish slightly less than halfway, as you end up with twice as much pasta when you cook it

OR if you’re being precise and like to weigh things, about half a pound of pasta 😉

(Thanks Katy for the clarification tips!)

Place drained pasta in a 9” square baking dish, pour sauce over, and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, mix together:

1/2 cup Panko, regular breadcrumbs, or cracker crumbs

1 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)

Salt and pepper

Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 375˚ F until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serves 2-4, depending on how much you love macaroni and cheese!

Filed Under: Pasta Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: cheddar cheese, dinner, macaroni and cheese, pasta, squash

Honey Mustard Garlic Chicken

March 8, 2011 By Korena in the Kitchen 4 Comments

My friend Cara makes delicious honey garlic pork spareribs, and I love how the honey and garlic caramelize in the sauce and get all sweet and sticky (or rather, even more sweet and sticky!) in the oven. This chicken dish sort of mimics that sparerib sauce, with the addition of Dijon mustard. I used skin-on chicken legs here, but it works equally well with chicken thighs, and the chicken pieces can be skin-on or off. The measurements are all “more or less”, so taste it before you add the chicken and adjust as you see fit. Use a baking dish that accommodates the chicken fairly snugly (it will shrink as it bakes), so that the sauce doesn’t dry out in the oven and the chicken stays moist. Serve with rice or some other grain to soak up the delicious sauce!…

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Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: chicken, Dijon mustard, dinner, garlic, honey

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I'm Korena: cook, baker, dirty-dishes-maker. My favourite things include flour, butter, sugar, and chocolate. Read More…

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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.

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