Fish Tacos + Apricot Bread Pudding

I feel bad for not having updated my sad little blog very much this summer. Being a full time blogger is tough work, let me tell you and I haven't really felt like posting stuff lately. I've been working super hard and when I finally get to spend a night at home and cook a meal, the last thing I usually feel like doing is taking pictures of every step, ugh! Anyways, I've been feeling kinda guilty for not updating the blog in a while, so here it goes!

This is super old from the 4th of July. My dad decided to invite over about a million people without my permission, but we actually ended up with the perfect amount of food!

I didn't follow a recipe for the bread pudding so I basically just combined some milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla orange zest and lemon zest in a bowl and then poured it on top of the cubed bread. In a separate pot, I briefly cooked up some sliced apricots in a little bit of water, butter and maple syrup and then folded them into the bread and custard. I baked it at 350 degrees until it was puffy and golden brown on top!





As for the fish tacos, I decided to make a ton of condiments to go with them. I picked up some wild snapper at the fish market the day before and my dad was in charge of cooking it. He marinated the fish in garlic, chili powder and olive oil.

I made a little coleslaw salad for the tacos. First, I let the sliced cabbage sit with some salt in a colander to drain some of the excess liquid out.




Oh, and we also made tons of corn!!


My coleslaw with a tangy vinaigrette made from sour cream, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil.


A delicious Pacifico beer with lime.


I made some picked onion and jalepeno with equal parts of heated up white vinegar and water, along with a lil' salt.


My sister, the underaged mixologist, made us fancy rhubarb, lime and gin cocktails.


Guacamole, salsa, coleslaw, cilantro, pickled onions and jalepenos.


The fish!



Party time:

My dog Shuggie eying my tortilla.

Strawberry Shortcake

I used this Gourmet magazine recipe for the shortcake but used about half as much sugar as it called for and substituted the buttermilk for about 2 parts cream to 1 part sour cream. As for the berries, I sliced them up and poured over a little vanilla extract and some maple syrup and let them sit for about 45 minutes. We used raw cream for the whipped cream and I sweetened it with a little agave and cointreau. Deeelish!

Spagetti with Pesto, Tomato, Summer Squash and Homemade Breadcrumbs

This meal was made from a lot of vegetables from my dad's garden! We used his basil, squash and lovely nasturtiums. I also made fresh breadcrumbs from a loaf of stale bread.

Before:
After:

My dad with a giant onion from his garden:

Fried Egg with Pickled Onion + Homemade Mayonnaise + Manchego + Arugula on Toast

Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I've been working like crazy and haven't really had much time to myself over the past three weeks. I've been working in the kitchen at a restaurant called Rustic Canyon and I'm very happy to say that so far it's been a blast!

Anyways, this was actually my first breakfast home the morning after I got back from my euro trip and Barcelona was still fresh in my mind so I had to incorporate in some manchego cheese!

I started by quick pickling some thinly sliced baby onions with water, vinegar, salt and thyme. I basically let the mixture come to a boil and then turned it off and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Here's what the onions looked like at the end:


I made a quick mayonnaise with an egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, salt and olive oil.


Arugula fresh from my dad's garden:


Frying eggs:


Manchego and mayonnaise on a thick piece of whole grain toast:

Arugula on top:

Finally, the egg and shallots:


It was deliciously creamy from the egg, mayonnaise and cheese, spicy from the arugula and tangy from the onions! Yum yum yuuum.


Tomorrow is the fourth of July and my dad invited over about a million people so we're gonna make fish tacos with coleslaw and pickled onions, some corn on the cob and an apricot/possibly caramel bread pudding for dessert.