Fried Eggs on Buttered Toast with a Zingy Lettuce, Tomato and Radicchio Salad

I like my eggs fried in olive oil and super crispy around the edges. I think sunny side up eggs are lame, but they sure do look prettier in pictures.

Creamy Marrow Bean, Tomato and Tarragon Casserole with Garlicky Croutons + Chocolate and Graham Cracker Tart

This is one of my mom's favorite dishes! It's inspired by a Deborah Madison recipe that she found in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I think everyone should own this book! Deborah Madison approaches vegetarian food in the most un-hippie way possible. I don't think any of her dishes could leave a meat eater unsatisfied!

Anyways, back to the recipe. My mom bought some great local heirloom beans called Marrow beans from a stall at the Topanga farmer's market the other day. Madison actually calls for flageolet beans in her recipe, but I think almost any non black/kidney bean would work fine. We soaked the beans overnight and then drained off the liquid and cooked them until tender with some rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, an onion and some of my favorite smoked dried chilis. The beans were so fresh that they barely took any time at all to cook!

Before:


After:

In a separate pot, I sautéed some shallots in olive oil and butter. After a few minutes, I added in about 10 diced roma tomatoes along with some white wine and let that cook for another 5-7 minutes.


I cubed up a loaf of bread and coated it pieces in minced garlic, olive oil and melted butter before toasting them in the oven.

We steamed some green beans until they were just shy of being done and then combined them in a large casserole dish with the drained marrow beans, stewed tomatoes and shallots, about a cup of cream, half a cup of chopped parsley and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of chopped tarragon. I topped the casserole with the croutons and baked it, covered, until it started to bubble around the edges. At this point, I took off the foil and and let the croutons brown a little more. After taking the dish out of the oven, I finished it with some parmesan.



For the salad, I simply mixed up a little apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper, mustard and olive oil and then coated some lettuce leaves with the dressing right before eating.



Chocolate Tart -

I used this gourmet magazine recipe for the chocolate filling but skipped the glaze. For the crust I used regular graham crackers instead of the chocolate ones, used about half as much sugar and added in about a teaspoon of cinnamon. It turned out really well. I served it with a little raspberry compote.

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.

Father's Day: Boullabaisse with Rouille Toast + Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and Strawberries

My sister and I wanted to make our dad something special for father's day. We both have fond memories of eating fish soup and rouille toast at the fondue restaurant that our dad and his friends opened in Montreal the year before I was born, so bouillabaisse seemed like a nice choice. As for the angel food cake, it was his favorite birthday cake throughout his childhood.

First of all, I had to get the fish stock going. Unfortunately, neither Whole Foods nor the Santa Monica Fish Market would sell me any fish bones (so disappointing!) so I had to resort to using a few shrimp shells and a couple of bones from the wild halibut steaks that I bought. I used my favorite trader joes organic vegetable stock, celery, onion, carrots, thyme, parsley, white wine and a bay leaf to amp of the flavor. I let the stock simmer gently for about an hour.


In a separate pot, I started sweating some leeks in olive oil.

The fish stock simmering away:

Next, I roughly sliced some fennel, diced about six roma tomatoes and added those to the sautéed leeks along with about a glass full of white whine and a few dried smoked chilis.

This is what it looked like after I added in the strained fish stock, a bay leaf and some saffron.

You could use any mixture of seafood, I used shrimp, mussels and halibut. Make sure to cut the fish into even pieces so they cook at the same time.

Next, I added in a ton of roughly chopped dino kale (not so typical of bouillabaisse but delicious all the same) and let that cook down for a few minutes before adding in the seafood. I started with the mussels, and a minute later added in the shrimp and fish. Stir it around but be careful not to break up the fish. I covered the pot for another minute and then turned off the heat - the fish will be slightly underdone at this point but it should cook through by the time it gets into the serving bowls.

I served the soup with my own version of rouille. I made the mayonnaise with an egg yolk, some cider vinegar, salt and 1 part olive oil to about 5 parts canola oil. I then stirred in some chopped chives and fennel fronds along with some tomato paste and a large pinch or two of sweet smoked paprika.

We used this Alton Brown recipe for the angel food cake and although it turned out well, I will probably cut down on the sugar the next time I make it.