Husband's Mexican Birthday Dinner

My husband's birthday was on a Monday in July. At that time, I was pregnant and he had a drinking fiesta (called Milwaukee Brewfest) on the Saturday before. So we did not go anywhere fancy to celebrate it. Since I thought that this would be one of the last occasions where I would be able to make a fancy meal, I decided to surprise my husband with a Mexican meal incorporating some of his favorite Mexican components and spices. Since we currently live in an apartment and store away our fancy dishes, these basic dishware have to do.

For the appetizer, I made Picadillo Oaxaqueno (Minced Pork with Almonds, Raisins, and Sweet Spices) on top of crispy masa boats. I got the Picadillo Oaxaqueno recipe from Rick Bayless' website:

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=270

Since his favorite dish from Rick Bayless' restaurant is poached eggs on crispy masa boats (yes, it is a breakfast item!), I decided to try my hands on making the crispy masa boats. The filling tasted great, but boy, did the crispy masa boat fail miserably. There must be something different with the flour as it was crispy, but the texture and consistency was a little off. My husband was so sweet and seemed appreciative anyway.

For the main course, I made my own version of Pescado Adobado a la Parilla (Grill-Roasted Whole Fish Adobado) based on this recipe (again, from Rick Bayless' website):

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=69

Since I don't know how to gut and clean a whole fish, I decided to use some pieces of halibut fillet. It tasted great, but it wasn't my husband's favorite dish.

To finish the meal, I made some caramel flan. It was decent and most importantly, hit the sweet spot.

All and all, it was a decent meal. I will have to try other Rick Bayless' recipes for other special occasions as they sound tasty and it is too difficult to make a day trip to Chicago too often these days as we just had a baby. =)