bento from 10/2008 to 01/2009
i've extremely neglected this journal for months (already) because of school routine, unexpected 'things" and simply a incredibly utter laziness. u__u
i'll be continuing what i've done in the last post, posting my daily (sometimes once a week) bento, i prepared. i think i've done some progress since the first one, in terms of variety of aliments, and healthier content. of course it isn't as colorful as 'Adventures in Bento making site' or the famous 'Lunch in a box', and not as passionant as 'Frenchbento blog' (written in french) [by the way i strongly recommend these sites :)]; i am a rather new amateur of cooking (i may be one of the youngest bento-maker around hehe) and i don't really have many ressources at hand (it's my mother who run errands so i just use up what it's left - most of the time chinese food), but i do have fun making these, so i would like to share it with people :)
any comments will be very appreciated :D
10/2008
→ ninja!onigiri filled with salmon, makizushis with salmon and cucumbers, broccolis and scrambled eggs + tube of soy sauce
→ apple cake and vietnamese dessert (not sure of the name)
→ it was my first attempt at making makis and i ...rather failed. my mother helped me to roll, then when it was time to cut (let it rest a bit), the nori was very chewy (?) so i finished cutting it with scissors and that's why the shape is weird with rice sticking out a little =/.
the dessert contains rice turned into porridge-like and black eyes peas. the whole is sweeten and is served with coconut sauce. it is very yummy.
→ inarizushi (rice and bacon cubes), gratin of rice, bacon cubes and mushrooms (and cheese gruyère of course), and two small pieces of poulet pané [chicken schnitzel] (sorry for the blurry pictures i think my hands were shaking)
→ mini black chocolate cakes with a layer of white chocolate and cacao powder sprinkled
→ it was very delicious (especially the gratin since i love mushrooms and gruyère) and very fatty. there was some mushrooms and bacon cubes left in the refrigiretor so i decided to turn it into a gratin, which is a widespread dish in France.. [ 'see the recipe in french here']. As for the inarizushi (yes it belongs to the sushi family =D), i've discovered this from FrenchBento and hurry up to go to the famous japanese grocery Kioko at Paris and buy it. it is easy to stuff the fried tofu wrappers (with any things you want - usually with rice) and it goes nice with bento :).
11/2008
→ pasta coquilettes, omelette with potatoes (cut in cube shape), tomate farcie aux courgettes et au jambon (basically it is a tomato filled with zucchinis and ham), nori for decoration
→ no dessert :(
→ halloween theme! i've make also one bento for my cousin (but i forgot to take a picture of hers -but it looked like mine anyways), we and other friends planned to go shopping at Paris, but since my cousin had classes right after, we all decided to make bentos. now, move on to the recipe, the tomate farcie was easy to make, you need to take out the inside, stuff it with cooked zucchinis and ham and put it in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes more or less. (see the recipe in french here)
→ poisson pané [fish goujons ou fish fingers], scrambled egg, rice mixed with carrots (kinda look like a porridge) + nori for decoration (sorry , crap quality or lighting)
→ crust of a failed roulé au nutella u__u and some Nutella to spread (hazelnut sweet spread)
→ at home, my family like food which have been paner (coat with breadcrumbs), especially me :). we often buy it as frozen food.
you might wonder with i called a failed roulé au nutella. actually i wanted to make a roulé (rolled cake) one day but i guess i baked it too long and the dough was way too hard to be rolled so i just cut it in small pieces and eat it with nutella. i may retry the recipe one day, because even children can do it .___. (see the recipe in french here)
12/2008
→ pork meatballs, surimi-omelette, and plain rice
→ Surimi is -for those who don't know- literally fish puree made with white-fleshed fish or crab meat. As I am allergic to shellfish, I bought surimi who was made of fish. I had no idea what to do with these surimi sticks (i bought it for the chirstmas meal) so i wrapped it omelette and a strip of nori paper (which was the dinner leftover). I was worried the meatballs weren't cooked enough, but they was uber delicious :D
→ carrots, brocolis, sausages and (hot) zarusoba
→ Zarusoba is a type of Japanese thin noodle. They are usually eaten cold (with dipping sauce) or hot served with a soup. I didn't have a container for soup so i just ate it without sauce. (more informations here or recipe here) it was sticky, and very different from the Chinese noodles I usually eat.
→ makizushis with surimi and salmon, salmon nigirizushi, some omellettes and soy sauce
→ (cold) zarusoba and zucchinis
→ made this for a classmate/friend and me. on thursday, i start school at 11a.m and have a lunch break only at 2p.m. but the cafetaria close at 2p.m too so i cannot reheat my bento at that time. i thought of making cold food or food that be fine with room temparature -so i could eat it during class (yea the teacher allows us to eat during class ^^) or after- and makizushi was the first thing that came in my mind. then as i woke up early, i've decided to cook soba too, since my friend with which i shared my food have a huge appetite xD. the meal was not bad, but eating cold food is not my thing.
→ ham-mayonaise sandwhich (underneath), soja, surimi and persley
→ bacon cake (with gruyère)
→ christmas theme, but it doesn't really look like if i didn't told you the soja-persley-surimi formed a christmas tree ^^;;. i thought of cutting the bread into a christmas tree shape, but i'm not dexterous =/
the bacon cake was dry, but tasty :)
01/2009
→ carrots sauté with omelette and soja (yes, i use a lot of eggs in my bento u__u), unfrozzen crepe and picks of cheese knacki-balls (mini ball wieners) + piece of emmental (cheese)
→ mini salmon sandwhich (new year meal leftover), brownie and dark chocolate piece
→ lot of cheese in this bento! and not a single grain of rice! as a chinese, rice should be the staple of everyday's meals, but i wanted to finish up the bread and salmon bought for new year celebration. i don't know if there's a specific name for the sauté, but i often see my mother cook it.
→ homemade rice, broccolis, soy sauce container, lemon custart tart
→ tartiflette, galette des rois (twelfth Night cake.)
→ this bento is very frenchy or à la française, apart the rice. you may wonder what is homemade rice, actually this dish's name is not translatable. my mother calls it in cantonese '有味饭' but it doesn't make really sense literrally 'rice who have taste'. this regional dish (i think it is) is made of rice (round ad sticky rice), minced pork meat and small shrimps 虾米 (but i left it out since i'm allergic to). it is very tasty but unfortunally quite fatty. i had lemon left so i use it to make a custart tart or flan, very easy and rapid to make.
→the tartiflette is a gratin from the region of Haute-Savoie in France, composed of potatoes, bacon cubes and reblochon (cheese)(see recipe here)i didn't have this kind of cheese (and dislike) so i remplaced by emmental.
it is a tradtition to eat the Galette des Rois on January, 6th. (know more about it here) my father works at a bakery so every year he got this as 'present' :D
→ kimbap (korean makizushi), chinese new year dessert, soy sauce container, 牛 with pieces of carrot, cucumber and ham
→ chinese vegetarian dish ( tofu, mushroom, cabbage...)
→ chinese new year theme! or lunar new year. this year is the year of the ox (牛). i may cook a lot of japanese and chinese food but i'm really interested in korean food as well (not the spicy meals though). unfortunaly, korean food is rather hard to cook because it demands a lot of time/preparation (not instant food). but kimbap -which look like makizushi with more garnitures (omellette, carrot, cucumber, ham..)- is very easy and i've success to cut it 'well' this time. (see recipe here) the 'dessert' is infact a sort of dough stuffed with sesame seeds and sweet things (i don't really know what it is) which have been deep-fried. our family always gather to make these frying (a lot!) in order to give it to acquaintances to wish new year fortune.
(→ excuse my english mistakes. i could have written it in french but i know more people will be interested if i write in english.
→ extremely long post u___u)