Green Galore

Though we didn't plan it this way, every dish in this dinner was mainly green, each one a different shade!

The salad was Chopped Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Blue Cheese and Pomegranate Vinaigrette (wow, that's a long name!) from the October 2011 Food Network Magazine. Instead of the blue cheese, we used feta that Bethany made, and we also substituted salad greens from Cornerstone for the Belgian endive. The apples came from Cornerstone as well, and rather than buy pomegranate molasses for the dressing, we used a little bit of plain molasses.

For the main dish we made Spinach Fettuccine with Parmigiano-Reggiano from the October 2010 Food Network Magazine. Since none of us had any guanciale, we used smoked bacon instead.

We made the pasta dough, which had lots of blanched spinach pureed with the flour, and then divided it into sections to roll it out

Each section was rolled out into a rectangle, and then rolled up and sliced

The third component of the meal was Fricassee of Chanterelles from the September 2011 Bon Appetit. We were able to get some local chanterelles, and added lots of kale and swiss chard from Cornerstone, rather than serving the mushrooms over pasta or potatoes.

Sticking with the green theme, dessert was Apple-Pear-Ginger Pie from the November 2011 Food Network Magazine.



We used more apples from Cornerstone, and used both cinnamon and ginger in the filling. For the top crust, we cut out lots of little apples and leaves, and layered them in circles to cover the top of the pie.

We decided not to cook the filling since we didn't want the pears and apples to turn into mush, so we just used less butter and added a little more flour. The pie was accompanied by frozen yogurt that Bethany made out of yogurt that Natalie had made

The next morning we didn't make breakfast together because Bethany had to work early and Ian and Jeanette were leaving pretty early too, but they came back a few days later and we made breakfast then!

The recipe was for Maple Glazed Sweet Potato Bread from Tasty Kitchen - the bread was delicious, and the "icing on the cake"...was the glaze on the bread!

Instead of shortening we used coconut oil, and we didn't have ground cloves, so we used nutmeg instead. We also substituted homemade raw buttermilk for the milk, and made raw maple whipped cream too!

Home Grown

Between our gardens, freezers, refrigerators, and pantries, there were very few ingredients we needed to purchase for this meal!

When we were discussing this meal, the one thing we knew we would make was an Heirloom Tomato Pie from the July/August 2011 Food Network Magazine. We had been waiting for there to be enough sun to ripen lots of tomatoes in our gardens to make this recipe, but since that didn't happen we settled for the next best option--buying heirloom tomatoes from a farm on Vashon. We also substituted home-made fresh cheese curds for the manchego cheese in the recipe, and all the herbs were freshly cut from Cornerstone's garden!

Our meat dish was Aged Rib Eye with Onion Puree from the September 2011 Bon Appetit magazine. We cooked a few steaks that Ian and Jeanette brought rather than the one large rib-eye that the recipe calls for.

Unfortunately we didn't still have enough onions in the garden either, so they also came from a farm on Vashon. The chicken stock and buttermilk in the puree were home-made though!

All the greens for Late-Summer-Greens Saute (from September 2011 Bon Appetit) were from the garden at Cornerstone, and the shallots came from the same farm as the onions - Island Meadow Farm

Even dessert came from the garden...well, sorta...the zucchini did!

These are Zucchini Whoopie Pies from Not Without Salt. The cookies pretty much taste like zucchini bread, as they have very similar ingredients.

While we were taking pictures of the cookies, a little someone tried to sneak one off the cooling rack!

The whoopie pies have a delicious buttercream-like filling made with home-made marshmallow fluff. We had them with home-made raw vanilla ice cream

For breakfast the next morning we made Cherry-Chocolate Coffee Cake from the July/August 2011 Food Network Magazine. This is another recipe we had been waiting for a while to make--first we were waiting for the cherries at Cornerstone to ripen, then it was just a matter of finding time to get together and make it! Luckily there were some bing cherries from the tree in the freezer, because by the time we made the cake there were no more cherries on the trees!

The cake calls for sour cream, but we used home-made raw buttermilk instead. We also left out the orange zest in the streusel, as well as the cherry liqueur in the filling. As if having cake for breakfast were not enought, we made raw whipped cream to have with it!

Birthdays!

This dinner was also a celebration of Bethany and Wesley's birthdays.  We cooked at Ian and Jeanette's house in Seattle, wanting to take advantage of the deck with a beautiful view to grill and eat outside.  Unfortunately, the one day in a stretch of great weather that we chose to make a meal based on being outside, it rained!  But the rain was light enough while we were cooking that we were still able to grill outside and eat dinner on the deck without getting too wet.

The main dish was Open-Faced Tuna Sandwiches with Arugula and Sweet-Pickle Mayonnaise from Giada at Home by Giada DeLaurentiis.  We used the recipe as a guide, but changed a few things.

Rather than use dried herbs de Provence on the tuna steaks, we chopped up fresh herbs from the garden

We also made a garlicky Aioli from the September 2011 Food Network Magazine to have in place of mayonnaise, and had dill pickle relish along with it.  Since we were making salad and vegetables on the side, we also left off the arugula on top of the sandwiches.

The rest of the meal was also grilled - our vegetable side dish was Grilled Summer Squash from the July/August 2011 Food Network Magazine

This was a mixture of Summer squash from the garden at Cornerstone, as well as some that we purchased, since the garden was not yet at it's peak for squash

Instead of topping it with ricotta salata, we used a raw goat's milk feta cheese

Our salad was also grilled, using only that portion of the recipe for Chicken Skewers with Grilled Romaine, also from the July/August 2011 Food Network Magazine.

These were very delicate heads of lettuce from Ian and Jeanette's garden 

After spreading the dressing on them, they were quickly grilled and then topped with grated romano cheese

Because this was also a birthday celebration, we decided to make a dessert that Bethany would love, which means it would include chocolate and peanut butter!  We chose a Peanut Butter Cream Pie recipe by Emeril Lagasse.

The filling had whipped cream folded into it, so it was very light and fluffy...but it also subdued the peanut butter flavor some.  With the extra whipped cream served on top, it was kind of a lot of whipped cream!  The pie was good, but we would probably try a different recipe next time, and look for one with a more dense filling containing lots of peanut butter! 

And of course, we have to include a picture of the now two-year-old birthday boy!

Beginning of Summer Cooking at the Cabin

This dinner was pretty much based around a recipe for Cilantro-Scallion Bread from the July 2011 Bon Appetit.

The filling is made with lots of finely chopped cilantro and scallions mixed with sesame seeds and olive oil

The mixture is spread on the rolled-out dough

The dough is then rolled up and sliced to make swirls, the same way as making cinnamon rolls



We wanted to make something with beef because Ian and Jeanette have lots in their freezer, so we decided to marinate some rib-eye steaks in a Chimichurri Marinade from the July 2011 Bon Appetit, and serve more of the sauce with the cooked meat.

Even though we didn't end up having a lot of time for the meat to marinate, it was very flavorful, especially with the extra sauce spooned on top!

As a salad/side dish, we had Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw, also from the July 2011 Bon Appetit. We used Kale from Ian and Jeanette's garden, as well as some from the garden at Cornerstone.

The hard-boiled egg is incorporated into the slaw in a way that neither of us had seen before, which was to press it through a strainer. This resulted in little crumb-like pieces, allowing you to have some egg in nearly every bite! We used a duck egg laid by one of Ian and Jeanette's ducks!

That was everything we had planned to make, but we finished sooner than we thought we would, and it seemed like we could use something with color other than green in the meal...so we decided to add a Carrot, Cilantro, and Chile Slaw (from the same magazine) that Jeanette happened to have pretty much all the ingredients for. It was a nice addition to the meal, adding color and a fresh crunchiness, but also complimenting the other elements' fresh and herb-y flavors!

We adapted a recipe for Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Tartlets with Roasted Rhubarb from the March 2011 Bon Appetit magazine for dessert.

Instead of making individual tartlets, we made one big tart in a deep-dish tart/quiche pan

The filling is much lighter than a typical cheesecake - after the crust is baked and cooled, the filling is made with whipped creme fraiche (we used raw that Jeanette had made) and cream folded into a mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla bean. Instead of the roasted rhubarb topping, we made a simple cherry sauce with some maple syrup and vanilla to pour on top. The crust was nice and thick since we made it all in one large pan, and the cherry sauce was a nice compliment to the cheesecake!

After eating dessert, we started a batter for Yeasted Waffles from Tasty Kitchen that we made the next morning for breakfast.

After sitting overnight, the only thing to be done in the morning is to add the baking soda and eggs to the batter, and then cook the waffles! They came out pretty thin, but were light and crispy, and the slightly sour yeasty flavor was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the maple syrup and whipped cream.

Wesley woke up just in time for breakfast, and enjoyed licking the whipped cream bowl clean!