Indian Dinner

For dinner this time we decided to go with the theme of Indian food (with the exception of dessert).  Dinner was made in Olympia, where Bethany stayed the night, and the next morning Jeanette, Wesley, and Bethany drove up to Seattle.  We ate breakfast at Hot Cakes.  We tried their oatmeal/raisin/bacon cookie, bread pudding (with maple clove butterstoch, sauteed apples and pears, and vanilla ice cream), and apple/cardamom/ginger pocket pie.

Back to dinner...

In lieu of a green salad, we made Carrot Salad with Yogurt and Coriander from the January 2012 Bon Appetit magazine.  In place of Greek yogurt we used raw milk yogurt from Frisia Dairy, and we used red wine vinegar instead of Sherry vinegar.  This photo does not do justice to this salad--it was really good!

For the Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach (January 2013 BA), we again used the yogurt Jeanette had in place of the Greek yogurt, and we left the skin on the chicken instead of removing it like the recipe says.

The broth was homemade, and our dish turned out to have more liquid than the pictures in the magazine, possibly due to a little extra broth being used because the size of the pan required more to cover the chicken.  However, it had great flavor!

On to the next dish - Saag Paneer from the March 2013 Food Network Magazine.  We made the cheese, which was then tossed in flour and fried in grapeseed oil.

Then the cheese was tossed in a sauce made with lots of spinach.

The saag paneer was served on top of Lemon-Cumin Rice from the March 2013 FN Magazine.  We sauteed the onion with ground cumin instead of cumin seeds because that was what we had.

The final component of dinner was Indian Flatbreads from www.foodnetwork.com.  They are indeed very flat, but still taste good and serve the purpose of helping scoop up other items and sauces.

And now for the non-Indian dessert!

On the menu was Fallen Chocolate Cake from the March 2013 Bon Appetit magazine.  Here it is before it "fell":

Not until after dinner, Wesley! ;)

Once the center has fallen, that space is taken advantage of by filling it with a mascarpone whipped cream.

Last Meals of 2012

This dinner includes some dishes that we considered making for Thanksgiving, but that didn't make the menu for one reason or another.

We had a simple caesar salad with dressing that Jeanette had made the day before.  Also included in our dinner that had been made the day before by Jeanette was Wild Mushroom and Cauliflower Lasagna from the December 2012 Food Network Magazine.

Now for the rest of the meal that we made together--first, Prosciutto-Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Sauce from the November 2012 Bon Appetit magazine.  Here it is after being baked (we didn't have twine to tie it with, so we secured it with skewers):

And here it is sliced...

...and ready to be topped with the mushroom sauce

Prosciutto was also used in Roasted Green Beans with Pancetta and Yogurt (Nov 2012 FN) in place of the pancetta.  Instead of Greek yogurt we used yogurt from Cornerstone Dairy.  The caraway seeds added a surprisingly pleasant flavor to the dish, along with the saltiness of the prosciutto, the tangy and creamy flavor of the yogurt, and the crunch of the almonds.

We also made the Holiday Breath Wreath from the November 2012 FN Magazine, but used Jeanette's sourdough bread instead of following the recipe for the dough.  Because of the way the dough was shaped, the bread had a wonderful texture and stayed very moist!

For dessert we made Sugar Cream Pie, also from the November 2012 FN Magazine, and served it with Jeanette's homemade eggnog ice cream.  Unfortunately we don't have pictures to do justice to how good it was, because the filling wasn't completely set, so once the pie was cut it became a mess!  It probably just needed to be cooked a little longer...however it was still delicious!

Sticking with the post-Thanksgiving theme, for breakfast the next morning we made Spiced Sweet Potato and Pecan Pancakes from Tasty Kitchen, and served them with maple syrup and a raw cream sauce, and hot drinks with steamed eggnog!

They were really good, and didn't last long!

Thanksgiving 2012

It was another great Thanksgiving at Cornerstone, but a smaller group than in most past years.  The people there were: Luke and Natalie, Brandon, Lauren, Wallace, and John Luke, Ian, Jeanette, and Wesley, and Bethany.

Wesley came to Cornerstone with Bethany on Wednesday for the day and spent the night while Ian and Jeanette celebrated Ian's birthday in Seattle.  Then everyone gathered at Cornerstone Thursday morning and began cooking!  In the afternoon everyone went for a walk, except for Jeanette and Bethany, who stayed back to keep things going in the kitchen.  This was a good amount of food--not too many things to make that it felt overwhelming, but still lots of leftovers to enjoy!

Like last year,  we chose to just list all the dishes that were made without any pictures, so here it is!

• Beef Roast made by Brandon, with grass-fed beef provided by Ian and Jeanette
• Cassoulet made by Brandon with chicken from Cornerstone, beef from Ian and Jeanette, and pork from Farmstead Meatsmith
• Gravy made by Brandon
• Stuffing made by Lauren with her homemade sourdough bread and sausage from Farmstead Meatsmith
• Mashed Potatoes made by Bethany with dairy products from Cornerstone Farm
• Guy Fieri's Whiskey Glazed Sweet Potatoes made by Bethany from the November 2012 Food Network Magazine
• Creamed Peas and Onions made by Jeanette from the November 2012 Bon Appetit magazine
• Slow Roasted Green Beans with Sage made by Jeanette from the November 2012 Bon Appetit magazine
• Cranberry Serrano Relish made by Jeanette from the November 2012 FN Magazine
• Parker House Rolls with Sea Salt made by Bethany (and Wesley) from the November 2012 Food Network Magazine
• Bourbon Pumpkin Pie made by Bethany from A Cozy Kitchen
• Salted Caramel Apple Pie made by Jeanette from the November 2012 FN Magazine (in the booklet with 50 pies)
• Homemade Raw Whipped Cream made by Bethany
• Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream made by Jeanette

Happy Birthday Jeanette!

Because Jeanette's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving, we got together earlier in the week to plan the Thanksgiving menu, and to make meals of her choosing to celebrate her birthday. 

We had a busy day of planning, shopping, and cooking, so Jeanette made breakfast ahead of time.  From the cookbook A Passion for Baking, she made the Frendship Sourdough Coffee Cake using the sourdough starter she has been keeping.

Here's dinner:

We started with a simple green salad tossed in Granny Smith Apple Cider Vinaigrette from the November 2012 Bon Appetit magazine.  The main dish was Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Sauce from the November 2012 Food Network Magazine.

As usual, we used only beef instead of beef and pork.  Here are the rolls before being steamed:

And here they are cooked:

We had some help stirring the tomato sauce!

Homemade pasta, using a different method than we had done before, was also on the menu.  Made with semolina flour, Frascatelli with Pecorino and Mustard Greens from the November 2012 BA magazine are little dumplings reminiscent of gnocchi.

We omitted the mustard greens and made the variation with browned butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes (but without the chopped tomato).

We all loved the pasta, including Wesley--the texture of the dumplings and the flavor of the browned butter was really good!

The last component of dinner was Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts from the November 2012 FN Magazine.

There were a handful of small brussels sprouts in Ian and Jeanette's garden that we used, and we purchased the rest from the Olympia Food Co-op.

For dessert we made Metropolis Bars from the cookbook A Passion for Baking, as well as homemade vanilla ice cream.

Our little helper was back again, and very interested in this dessert! :)

Happy Birthday Jeanette!