Italian meets Japanese

Good morning all :)
Actually I'm still sleepy..
after we woke up this morning, hubby and i still enjoying the lazy time in bed. We were giggling and chuckling and joking that we won't wake up and still being lazy at home. 
but then when i looked at the time, i realized that we have to wake up now, or i won't be able preparing hubby's bento--and he won't be able to be at work on time. 
so then--finally we woke up! :D


while i was preparing the food, he was helping me with washing the dishes. sweet :)


--
anyway, i made these as his bento :

err..i'm a lil bit annoyed by the bunny. Cause two of them are in the 'mature' arrangement, while this one is a lil bit childish--so, actually, they're not in the match :D

well, I'm trying the new recipes here. after Googing and searching for the original recipes in the internet, i finally found the recipes that suits on us--by combining some existing recipes with my own taste.
and since friends from facebook asked for the recipes, so--here they are :

edamame risotto with grilled shrimp

i know, that i should use the arborio rice, or other medium or short grained rice. but since too hard to find the arborio, and it costs expensive here, so i'm using the ordinary daily rice. :) The original risotto usually using some dry white wine--but we're  prohibited to consume it, so i skip it.

so, here are the ingredients :

oil

red paprika powder

garlic powder

black pepper

these are the spices to marinate the shrimp. off course  you'll need shrimps that have been peeled.

onion, diced

clove of garlic, chopped

rice

chicken broth (if you are a vegen, besides using the vegetarian shrimp, you'll may change the broth to vegetable broth)

edamame (japanese green soy beans)

parmesan cheese, grated

butter

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice

and mint, chopped (optional)

how to :

1. mix the marinade seasons  and marinate the shrimp for at least 15 minutes.
2. melt the butter in large sauce pan
3. add the onion and saute until tender
4. add the garlic, and saute until fragrant
5. add the rice and stir to coat with butter
6. add  half of the stock (broth) at time and stir while simmering until it's gone. continue until the rice is cooked al dente. since i'm using the ordinary daily rice that usually harder and thinner than the arborio, i give at about 4 cups of broth for 1 1/2 cups of rice. And I just stir it occasionally, preventing so the rice won't be too soft and be like porridge. 
7. mix in the beans , cheese and butter. stir until the butter and the cheese has melted.
8. remove from heat, and mix in the lemon and mint.
9. don't forget to grill the shrimp until cooked. serve it.

the second one is Okonomiyaki. like Wikipedia said, okonomiyaki is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked".
so, i made the vegetarian one. i add vegetables ingredients in it. here is the recipe :

Japanese Okonomiyaki

whole wheat flour

water

egg

cabbage, shredded

sweet carrot,grated

zucchini, grated

green onion, chopped

sausages (if you are a vegetarian, use the vegetarian sausage)

how to:

1. mix the flour, water, egg, cabbage, carrot, zucchini, and green onion in large bowl. if you like, you may add some pepper and garlic powder to taste.
2. heat some oil pan.
3. pour the mixture and top it with sausages slices.
4. cook on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. (i use the small pancake pan, it will help to control the size of the okonomiyaki)
5. when you serve it, top it with okonomiyaki sauce and mayonnaise. but since i can't find the instant one here, after reading few recipes and Wikipedia, i use the recommended sauce of Worcestershire sauce. it contains of malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies,  tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice, and flavoring. The "spice, and flavoring" is believed to include cloves, soy sauce , lemons, pickles and peppers. 

easy huh? it's like making the omelet and definitely healthy. 
and with these fruits fiesta, 

hubby's bento were ready to take away :)

for hubby breakfast, i gave little portion of these menu.

my facebook friends asked me whether these too little for hubby's breakfast. Hubby asked me not to give him too much portion for his breakfast, cause he worried that he'll be sleepy after eating.  

that's all for today girls :)
love, kisses and hugs!

Green Sushi

Or--a wannabe-green sushi :D

Actually, the greenness is more visible if you put all the menus in one tier. I'll show you later :)

So, today's bento contains of maki sushi (sushi with kyuri filling), chicken katsu, saute water spinach with sesame seeds, tasty tamagoyaki, corn-edamame salad, and melon. 

The sushi taste wonderful. I guess besides using the right rice, you should choose the right nori to wrap it too. I choose nori that made in Thailand (offcourse you can choose another ones) that 100% vegetarian, no colestrol, more crunchy, and it has variant flavors (i have the original, squid and the spicy. But today, i use the original flavor). For the saute water spinach, i also add oyster sauce to it besides the sesame seeds. It will give a different taste too.

This salad, is corn-edamame salad. I use the same dressing with rainbow-ribbon salad. But it taste different. More savory, i say. Perhaps it's because i'm adding the different salad ingredients. Besides using carrots and apples, like yesterday, i roast the corn first with small amount of olive oil--until browned. Then i add some edamame (japanese green soy beans--i use the salted ones), chopped tomatoes, and green paprika. Put them all together in a big bowl. As the dressing, use another smaller bowl, mix a full spoon of olive oil, with 2-3 full spoon of apple cider, salt and pepper to taste, aaand.....garlic powder!! (so..this is why it tastes different, cause i'm using garlic powder too). Whisk it and taste it first before you mix it to the salad ingredients. 

These are my mini bentos for today sale. The menus are the same menus like hubby's bento. See, i've told you, the greenness  looks better when we put the menus all together in one tier. Like usual, i'm using the food ratio of grains:protein:vegetables in 1:1:1.


Hubby also bring mung beans drink and kiwi yogurt. a-ha..another green-menu! LOLs. Hopefully it's healthy enough for him :)

I'm bento-ing agaaaaain . yeee-aaay! :D

Almost a week with no bento at all. Here i am, with today's newest posting.

--

I've been selling the homemade-food for these 5 months, and receive orders for bento too. Hubby said, i should make small packages of bento to sell, not only by orders. But i've been too busy with baking and making snacks, so that i have no time left to do that thing. Until yesterday, one of BentosiAyah's friend, tagging me to her picture. That picture showed how she makes bento as her newly-business, inspire by BentosiAyah at first. What a great creativity! Here's the picture :

Windi's bento caterings. She makes this only by order. Same like BentosiAyah at her first catering step, but using the permanent tiers, instead.

Those are awesome, aren't they? So, after seeing that picture, Hubby's idea for making bento packages are sparking again. Thanks to Windi.  I've found out, that making snacks more tired than cooking. So i think, why not, let's try to make a simpler bento and the cheaper ones off course. Usually, i made regular bentos. With regular size too. A portion that enough for lunch. But now, i also make the mini size of bento. Like snacks, but healthier and more filling. A portion is enough for a simple breakfast. These are the mini bentos :

A portion of mini bento contains of 1/3 part of grains (onigiri), 1/3 part of vegetables (today, i made chayote curry. With kyuri and rainbow salad), 1/3 part of protein (grilled fish, and egg stew) with candied papaya as the dessert. So, i assure you, this bento is 100% healthy. :D
I make carrot as the beaks and the topknots  of the onigiri-chicks, while nori as the eyes. Hubby said, these were hot-sale this morning. What a happy me :D LOLs. 


These are the reviews of hubby's bento for today.

See the color? Yes, i love it too ^____^. I know, i've ruined the arrangement. Since i make the mini bentos, hubby' bento exists in distended position--for me to arrange. And i didn't have any time left for that. As usual, i just put those there, and let the camera plays the part :D. Hubby said, orange-yellow-green and red are the colors that evoke appetite. And it's happening  to me now.. i'm in terribly starving :D LOLs. 

in his main tier, there are same menus with mini bentos. But in bigger portion--offcourse. Let me share you how to make the egg-stew of BentosiAyah :

 English Recipe

you'll need to boil some eggs first, then peeled 

for the spice you'll need to mash these: 

Onions

Garlics

hazelnuts

pepper

caraway

nutmeg

ginger

tomatoes

salt to taste

And you'll need these too :

bayleaves

galangals

sweet-soy sauce

sugar to taste

chicken broth-powder

  

how to :

1. Saute the mashed spices along with bay leaves and galangal. 
2. Pour some water, add the sweet-soy sauce, sugar to taste, and the the chicken broth-powder. 
3. Put the eggs in, cook until the gravy thickens and marinade seep.

Indonesian Recipe

telur rebus, kupas kulitnya.

bumbu halus :

bawang merah
bawang putih
kemiri
merica
jintan
biji pala
jahe
tomat
garam

bumbu lainnya:

daun salam
lengkuas
kecap manis
gula pasir
kaldu bubuk

Cara memasak :

1. Tumis hingga harum bumbu halus bersama dengan daun salam dan lengkuas. Tuang air, beri kecap manis, gula pasir, dan kaldu bubuk. Aduk rata.
2. Masukkan telur, masak hingga kuah mengental, dan bumbu meresap. 

  

This is hubby's salad tier.  I put rainbow salad (or ribbon salad, or let's say : rainbow ribbon salad) and home made-candied papaya. As usual, on Wednesday, I also made another tiers for hubby's coworkers with same menu. That's all :) Hopefully he'll enjoy today's bento :D Happy Wednesday girls!!

--ps:

Please welcome new logos of BentosiAyah :

Hubby made these. And he used BentosiAyah's original bento as the letter of 'O'. 

It's bibimbap edition :). 



As seen on What's for lunch , Wednesday

Friday, I'm in Rush!!

Oh Noooooo.... I woke up at 8 this morning, while hubby should be at his office at 9. So, in time speaking, i still have at about an hour to make hubby's bento--but, the actual, i only have a half hour less!! Those minutes include time for making the breakfast too for us (he asked noodles as his breakfast). So totally, i only have 10-15 minutes left to do some magic in his bento today :((

sorry for the photo..it's a lil bit blurry. Not as sharp as usually. So-so-so in rush. -____-'

I only make classic egg-salad with toast and lettuce, while on the other stove, i make cheese omelet with ham and fried a hash-brown potato patty. Arrange some fruits, same like yesterday, but i add some Sunkist-slices. Owwwh.... hopefully these are enough for his long working-day...

Oh, the egg-salad, that's the simplest one. You need :

2 Hard-boiled egg, sliced

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced onion (if you like you can use garlic-powder)

salt, pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

Lettuce leaves

Reserve 1-2 center egg slices for garnish, if desired. Chop remaining eggs. Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Add chopped eggs, and celery; mix well. Serve on lettuce leaves, garnish with reserved egg slices. (Amount Per Serving  Calories: 221 | Total Fat: 18.9g | Cholesterol: 323mg)

Oh, i also found this information.  I'll write it here for you;

• Very fresh eggs can be difficult to peel. To ensure easily peeled eggs, buy and refrigerate them a week to 10 days in advance of cooking. This brief ‘breather' allows the eggs time to take in air, which helps separate the membranes from the shell. 
• Hard-cooked eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling. Cooling causes the egg to contract slightly in the shell.  
• To peel a hard-cooked egg: Gently tap egg on countertop until shell is finely crackled all over. Roll egg between hands to loosen shell. Starting peeling at large end, holding egg under cold running water to help ease the shell off.
• Hard-cooked egg storage time: In the shell, hard-cooked eggs can be refrigerated safely up to one week. Refrigerate in their original carton to prevent odor absorption. Once peeled, eggs should be eaten that day.
• This recipe is an excellent source of choline, and a good source of protein and folate.

While the omlet, oh that's quite simple too, and doesn't need long time to make.

you need :

2 beaten-eggs

salt, pepper, garlic-powder

2 table spoon of fresh water

mozzarella cheese mix with cheddar, grated

ham (mine is beef one, not the pork)

Mix the beaten eggs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and fresh water. Melted butter in a skillet omelet, and cooked the mixed-eggs. After a half-baked, give some grated-cheese and ham on the omelet's surface. You can also add some vegetables on it, as you desire. Cooked well, and omelet ready to serve. 

I packed hubby's bento in this cute bag. I also put a strawberry-yogurt and a mung-bean drink. Voila, there you go..hubby's bento are ready for a long-tiring working-day! :)