Thursday in bad mood -__________-'

Yes, i tell you what, don't ever try to deal with bentoing stuffs, if you're not in a right mood. It does not affect the taste of food, yes, but really affect the quality of the art of arranging the contents. 


I don't know why, it's just that my feelings are not as good as usual.T___T
But I've tried my best.

Look at the background. You'll find a reddish brown-shawl. I made it by myself as a present for hubby on his master graduation day. Years ago, before we were married. I almost could not come that day. And I had not even finished the shawl yet. So, when hubby was attending the graduation ceremony, I continued to knit his shawl.  And finished, right after the ceremony ended. And for years too, this shawl--he always carried it everywhere. He said, when the scarf was worn, it was reminded him of me. ♥

Anyway,

as his side dishes, i made chicken katsu, bean sprouts in yellow spice, and quail egg satay. My friend on facebook asked me to write the recipes here. so then, i'll do it. :)

Chiken Katsu

English Recipe

You'll need :

chicken fillet

wheat flour

beaten egg

pepper, salt to taste

garlic powder

water

instant chicken broth powder

bread crumbs 

and oil to fry

How to :

1. Mix the flour, beaten egg, pepper and salt, garlic powder and broth powder with water--stir well.
2. Dip the chicken, one by one into the batter flour, then roll in the bread crumbs. Do the same with the rest.
3. Stored briefly in the fridge, for 20 minutes.
4. Fry with oil over medium heat until cooked. Remove and drain

Indonesian Recipe

You'll need :

dada ayam fillet

tepung terigu

telur kocok

lada halus, garam

bubuk bawang putih

air

kaldu bubuk

tepung roti

minyak untuk menggoreng

Cara memasak :

1. Campur tepung, telur, lada, garam, bubuk bawang putih, dan kaldu ayam bersama air. aduk rata, sampai adonan licin tidak berbutir.
2. Celupkan ayam, satu per satu, ke dalam adonan tepung lalu gulingkan di atas tepung roti. Lakukan sampai dada ayam fillet habis.
3. Simpan sebentar di dalam lemari pendingin, kira-kira 20 menit lamanya.
4. Goreng dalam minyak panas, dengan api sedang hingga matang. Angkat dan tiriskan. 

 For the vegetable dish :
 

Bean Sprouts in Yellow Spice

English Recipe

You'll need :

bean sprouts

garlic chives

bay leaves

galangal

sugar

chicken broth

coconut milk

Mash these :

pepper

hazelnuts

red-onions

garlic

turmeric

salt to taste

How to :

1. Saute until fragrant, the spices that have been mashed with bay leaves, and galangal.
2. Add the bean sprouts and chives, stir well.
3. Add sugar and the broth. 
4. Pour the coconut milk, and cook until the sauce thickens and the spice seeps.

Indonesian Recipe

bahan :

tauge

kucai

daun salam

lengkuas

gula

kaldu ayam

santan

haluskan :

merica

kemiri

bawang merah

bawang putih

kunyit

garam, secukupnya

Cara memasak :

1. Tumis hingga haru, bumbu-bumbu yang dihaluskan bersama daun salam dan lengkuas.
   
2. Masukkan tauge dan kucai, aduk.
   
3. Tambahkan gula dan kaldu bubuk.
4. Tuang santan, dan masak sampai kuah menyusut dan bumbu meresap.

Easy to make aren't they ? Try them at home, or as your bento's filling. Anyway, besides his fruit fiesta (apple, banana and strawberries), i also made him chocolate cupcakes

with strawberries garnish. My friends asked me for the recipe too. :D So, here it is : 

Chocolate Cupcakes

You'll need :

margarine

liquid milk

eggs

sugar

wheat flour

chocolate powder

baking soda

baking powder

and :

melted chocolate

strawberries

as the garnish

How to :

1. First, prepare the steamer for steaming. And cover the cupcakes pan with paper cup.
2. Melt the margarine with milk.
3. Beat eggs with sugar, add the flour, chocolate powder, baking soda and baking powder. Stir batter.
4. Pour the melted margarine (with milk), stir well.
5. Pour into the cupcakes pan and steam for 25 minutes. 
6. Decorative cake with melted chocolate and strawberries

That's all girls. Remember, cook when your heart is good :) 
Kisses, love and hugs !

Happy Birthday Soldier!!

A brand new day! another week for bento creations. Happy morning girls.. ^^

Today is a special day for us. It's hubby's birthday! Yee-aay :D
Actually, I really wanted to make a special bento for him today. But then after it finished, it looks the same as before. -______-' nothing special at all :D

I put a cap and a gray shawl as the background on his bento picture. Those are--two items of five--my birthday present for him. He has 'going to Japan' schedule, at the end of the year, to attend international architecture seminar. And since he has nothing to ask as his birthday present, so i thought it would be more useful, if i buy him things that he'll may need on his trip to Japan (which according to the weather reports, it'll be winter). I know, there are still several months to go, but lets say these stuffs as the beginning :) 


Hubby said, that he missed his old bento (means, my earlier bento, the first one). And he asked for that today. I just make him plain onigiris with chicken teriyaki. But instead sausage/bratwurst, i grilled him a Puket mackerel with teriyaki marinade and dabu-dabu condiment.

I also make him goulash fern--with traditional recipe. Try this :

 English Recipe

you'll need to cut off the fern-leaves from it's hard tough stem
then wash and rinse cleanly  

for the spice you'll need to mash these: 

Red-Onions

Garlics

hazelnuts

coriander

turmeric

And you'll need these too :
meat

bayleaves

galangals

lemongrass leaves

red-chili (sliced thinly)

scallions

water to boil

salt, sugar to taste

  

how to :

1. cut meat into small pieces, then boiled until cooked. 
2. Saute the mashed spices along with bay leaves, lemongrass leaves and galangal. Add the sliced chili. saute until cooked.
3. pour the sauteed spices into the stew water. Boil it with medium heat.
4. Add the fern and the scallions, the sugar and salt to taste, stir well and boil with low heat until cooked and the spices seep. 

Indonesian Recipe

pisahkan daun pakis dari batangnya yang keras
cuci bersih

bumbu halus :

bawang merah
bawang putih
kemiri
ketumbar
kunyit

bumbu lainnya:

daging

daun salam
lengkuas
sereh

cabai merah, iris tipis

daun bawang, iris kasar

air untuk merebus

garam dan gula

cara memasak :

1. Didihkan air, rebus daging (bisa juga tetelan) yang sudah dipotong-potong hingga matang dan cukup lunak. sisihkan.
2. tumis bumbu halus bersama daun salam, daun sereh, dan lengkuas hingga harum. Tambahkan cabai iris dan tumis hingga matang.
3. masukkan bumbu tumisan ke dalam air rebusan daging, aduk rata. didihkan dengan api sedang.
4. masukkan daun pakis dan daun bawang, garam dan gula, dan masak dengan api kecil. 

I give up with baking cakes -______-'

Although, i'm still trying to make the right ones. Last night, i baked this brownies. But it's texture was too hard, because i baked it in the oven for more than the exact time. Hubby said : "there's always be the first for everything" and my first brownies is good enough (he likes the taste, he said). 

the brownies with heart shape

but I assure you, that i'm a delicious fruit-salad maker. Especially if i make it at my parents' house, cause there, my mother always buys me a good quality of mayo. Hubby's fruit salad only contains of papaya, melon and bali black grapes.

My new customer asked me for a bento today. So i make another portion for him :

And the mini bentos for today are the same menus with hubby's, but smaller portion.

 

there you go. Happy birthday hubby..I know I often equate you with the bollywood superstar Sharukh Khan--

guess which one is my husband is ? LOLs

but you always know that you are more good looking than Sharukh Khan itself. And i'm so glad to have you. You are a good husband, and gonna be a good father indeed. I love you. --

Rush Monday

Bonjour ! ^^v

After three days with no bento-ing activities, here i come again. Why did it called with 'Rush Monday'? Because I have many things to do for this morning--include making hubby's bento and cakes to sell--while i only have very short time for those.
Well, here is hubby's bento:

I only made him gudeg and pepes ayam as the side dishes. Do you know gudeg? It's one of the Javanese cuisine--Central Java of Indonesia, precisely. Made from young jack-fruit, chicken and hard-boiled egg stew, this dish has a unique sweet and savory taste. I made mine, but i still haven't got the right taste for my gudeg, like traditional gudeg usually has to be. I have to try harder :D

The next menu is pepes ayam--but before we've got there, i'll give you the meaning of pepes itself.

Pepes (also called Pais in Sundanese) is an Indonesian Sundanese cooking method using banana-leaf as food wrappings. The banana-leaf package containing food is cooked on steam, in boiled water or grilled on charcoal. This technique is most commonly used to prepare fish, Pepes Ikan Emas or carp pepes is the most popular one, however another type of food products; such as seafood, meat, chicken, tofu, tempeh, oncom, mushroom or vegetables also available to be prepared in this method. The method is used in several Indonesian dishes, and also become the name of a dish prepared in this manner, for example; Pepes Ikan Emas (carp pepes), Pepes Tahu (tofu pepes), Pepes Oncom (oncom pepes), Pepes Teri (anchovy pepes), and Pepes Jamur (mushroom pepes). Pepes products are typically consumed with steamed rice

While the original pepes used fish as the main ingredient, mine using ayam/chicken. With the same spices like red onion-garlic, hazelnuts, red-chilies, ginger and galangals (all the spices were pounded) --the chicken wrapped with banana leaf, spices, some tomatoes, lemongrass, bay leaves--then steamed for about 30 minutes till the chicken cooked perfectly. You can see how did the pepes look like before i put it to bento, from this picture on the left side.


As the snacks, i made some fried sandwiches (classic sandwiches that wrapped with bread crumbs--mine with salami, then fried), chocolate cupcakes (look the heart shape.. i've enjoyed time to make this shape), and donuts-satay. Give some oranges as the fruit, voila, my hubby's bento ready to take away. :D

These snacks, like donuts-satay and cupcakes, with fried rice noodles--are for sale. I made a half to be sell in a kindergarten near my house, and half part for my hubby's office-mates. I took one satay and cupcake to put in hubby's bento. Hopefully, these snacks are hard-sell!