Tutorial Cheese Crackers Real or Fake ?

Today's tutorial is a funny one, are these cheese crackers real or fake? This is an easy tutorial which we can use as a bento space filler, or as a funny prank, or as a party snack or even something less scary for Halloween. I think the possibilities are endless and this is going to taste great with breads, sandwiches, chips, salads, etc :D

Here's what you need:
2 slices of cheddar cheese
1 slice of goat cheese (or young cheese, or any cheese that is lighter than the 2 slices of cheddar you have)
1 circular cookie cutter with scallop edge (you can also use flower shaped cookie cutters)


Here's what I did:
1. Stack the cheese slices on top of one another in this manner:
cheddar cheese - goat cheese - cheddar cheese

2. Use the cookie cutter to make the shapes. Then use a toothpick (or the end of a food pick) and poke 9 holes in the centre. Voila!!

Bento Filler: Cheese Crackers Real or Fake ?

This is also a fun and easy project to work with kids because its relatively easy and mess-free for the adults and its also easy enough for kids to grasp the instructions. So now the question is, how would you name this bento tutorial, Fake Cheese Crackers or Real Cheese Crackers? ;D

Bento Easy Roll-up Sandwich

After a few days of making rice-based bentos, I have decided to make a sandwich bento for a change. This is an roll-up sandwich bento is an easy one and is great for busy mornings.

For this bento, I used the usual square white bread easily available in the supermarket. Because the bread I have is slightly dry, I placed it in the microwave for about 10 seconds so that it gets softer and is easier to roll. Next I remove the crust and put in whatever filling I have on hand. It happened to be cheese and salami today, but jam and butter works well too :D Next I roll it up and secure it with a food pick.

I place the sandwich rolls in the bento box and stuff in some left over salad. (This salad was sold already cut in the supermarket near my place, so I didn't have to do anything) Add in the star and its done. I hope you like this easy roll-up sandwich bento!

Bento Easy Transportation Vehicles

Today's bento is another quick and easy one. The school term has just started and I'm still trying to manage the new school schedule. For this bento, I used a Daiso sandwich cutter with 4 transportation vehicles joined together. If you are thinking whether you should buy it, here's a review which I had written sometime back in August.

First I placed some lettuce at the base of the box (which also makes cleaning up a whole lot easier). Next I buttered 2 slices of bread and lay a piece of cheese right on top of both slices of bread. I could have also placed the cheese between the bread, but chose not to do so. This is because:
#1 I think it looks brighter with the yellow cheese on top.
#2 the cheese makes it easier to stick the nori pieces on the little vehicles

Finally I threw in some olives and a piece of sundried tomato in the remaining spaces.

Bento Easy Transportation Vehicles

Hope you like this easy transportation vehicles bento! :)

Bento Cheese Salami Sandwich Rollup cucumber flowers

Today I woke up feeling a bit "dry" for bento ideas. Yes, sometimes stuff like this happens. I think isn't necessarily a bad thing because it shows that I'm still human after all :D So the very first thing I usually do in this situation is to open the fridge door and stare hard at everything sitting on the shelves. I saw half a cucumber, 1/4 slice (Not even half a slice -_-") of young cheese, half slice of salami. So this is what came out of these leftovers.

Bento Cheese Salami Sandwich Rollup and cucumber flowers

The bento box is an airtight food storage box which I got from the Hema store and it comes in a set of 2. I like it very much because it has an easy size and shape to work with. As for the star shape, I used a set of star-shaped cookie cutters from Daiso.

I hope you like this Bento Cheese Salami Sandwich Rollup with cucumber flowers (oh yes, and those two little white/blue packages are chewy candies)

Lego Bento Sandwich Star and Salad

This is another quick Sandwich Bento. Its also simple and fast, just like this bento I made previously. This time I rolled up the sandwich instead of cutting them into halves. I like rolling up sandwiches because it doesn't require that much precision cutting. Perfect for a I-don't-feel-like-going-to-work Monday!

Bento Star Sandwich with Teriyaki Beef Salad and Strawberries

Close up: Bento Star Sandwich with Teriyaki Beef Salad and Strawberries

From the close up, you can see that I place the salami star on the bread and rolled everything up. I also managed to put in 2 little containers for the vegetables and beef teriyaki. Next I filled up all remaining space with strawberries so that nothing moves while the bento is being transported.

The Bento Box I used here is produced under the license of the LEGO Group. Its food safe and dishwasher safe and can tolerate temperatures from -20 degree celsius to 100 degree celsius. Although it doesn't state what the capacity is, it's quite big for a bento box. It measures about 19.5cm x 9.5cm x 5.5cm. The only disadvantage is that it is not microwave safe, so do take note. Other than that, this Lego Bento Box is one of my favourite bento boxes. I bought this in a shop in Amsterdam but it is also available online here .

Bento Sandwich Naked Baby Salami Star

Its been a long time since I made bentos that doesn't require any cooking. Today I have decided to wake up at 0700hr to make what I call a Cook-Free bento for Mr Bear.

Bento Sandwich Salami Star and Naked Cheese Baby

Close up : Bento Naked Cheese Baby and Salami Star

This is what I did while Mr Bear was getting ready to work:

- Cut of the crust of bread.
- Spread butter on 1 side of bread and lay the cheese and salami.
- Cut the bread neatly into half and squeeze them into the bento box.
- Add the salami star and cheese baby which I had prepared last night.
- Fill up the rest of the bentos with fresh strawberries.
- @ 0715hr BENTO FINISHED!

For this Naked Baby Sandwich Bento, I had used a black bento box from Daiso. I guess its meant for  men because of some funny words printed on the lid. It says, "THE KING OF KINGS the king wore a crown. he is the king of kings" :D :D :D I bought both sizes and this is the larger one.

For the cheese, I chose to use sliced young Dutch Gouda cheese ( Goudse kaas - Jong belegen) instead of the usual cheddar cheese because Mr Bear doesn't like cheddar and also because it doesn't go all floppy so soon. For the nori bits, I used a nori punch for the mouth and the leaf piece. The leaf shaped nori punch I had does not have the jagged edges, so I add them in myself. This is how I made this Naked Baby Salami Star Sandwich Bento. Hope you like it!

Cook a pot of Curry Day - Devil's Curry

Come Sunday 21st August 2011 more than 50000 people in Singapore (and probably many parts of the world) will be cooking a pot of curry as part of a silent protest on the now famous Curry Feud. Here is a recipe on a typically Eurasian dish - Devil's Curry. This fiery and sour curry usually served together with bread and rice during Christmas in places like Singapore and Malaysia.

Ingredients:
250grams pork (beef/mutton/chicken can also be used as substitute)
4 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon tumeric powder
2 tablespoon mustard
*2 tablespoon chilli powder
4 tablespoons vinegar
salt and sugar to taste


Ground Ingredients:
2 onions (large)
12 shallots
7 cloves garlic
2-3 cm ginger piece
1 candlenut [ aka kemiri in Indonesia, kukui nuts in Hawaii. ]

*omit the chilli powder if its unavailable. Simply add about 15 fresh chillis to the Ground Ingredients

How to:
- Gather all the Ground Ingredients and grind them with a food processor or pound them with a pestle and mortar.

- Heat oil in sauce pan and fry the grinded ingredients until fragrant. Add the meat and salt and fry for a few minutes on high heat.

-Take a small bowl and mix the chilli powder and tumeric with a little water to form a smooth paste. Add this paste to the saucepan with meat and salt. Stir well, add a little more water and cook over low heat.

-When the meat is just about cooked, add in the mustard, sugar and vinegar. Stir and simmer for another 10 minutes.

- Serve hot with bread or rice.

Serve Devil Curry hot with Bread or Rice

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Because some ingredients can have different names in different countries, I have included some pictures here as reference:

Tumeric Powder

Shallots

Photo credit: http://www.importfood.com

 Picture above shows a packet of Candlenuts from Indonesia. Some packaging might come with a warning. As much as they look like macademia nuts, NEVER EVER eat candlenuts raw! Candlenuts can only be eaten after they have been cooked and never be eaten raw as a snack. This is a very common food ingredient in many parts of South East Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Singapore Chicken Curry - Part 2 - Cook a pot of Curry Day

As I said in my previous post, this is one of the many dishes that I would say is a typical soul food for many people in Singapore. Sometimes if I get desperate, I will get this Prima Deli Singapore Curry instead. BUT!!! this doesn't happen often, especially in my area because its soooo rare to see all these Prima stuffs even in the Amazing Oriental, one of the biggest asian supermarket here in the Netherlands. So what I found myself doing, is making everything from scratch. I know it can sound very scary for some folks, but its not that difficult actually. Scroll down for the recipe I usually go by. Happy Cooking!

Picture credit: http://www.rockman.com.au

Ingredients: Serves 4

1 piece of fresh ginger (about 3cm, peeled and coarsely chopped)
7 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
10 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup of Singapore Curry Powder ( see previous post)
1/2 cup water
1 whole chicken with skin intact (cut into 15-20 bite size pieces)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cups coconut milk (make sure its the runny type. Coconut cream can also be used instead, but do go easy on it)
500grams small potatoes, peeled and halved.
Salt to taste
French Bagette cut into serving slices.

How to:
- Using a mortar and pestle, pound first the ginger, then the garlic and lastly the shallots, until they are a fine mixture. If a mortar and pestle is not available, the ingredients can also be finely grounded with a blender or food processor.

- Mix the curry powder with the water and blend to a paste. Mix half the curry paste with the pounded ginger, garlic and shallot mixture and then rub all over the chicken pieces. Marinate at least 30 minutes.

-Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. The oil should be very hot. (If you add a tiny drop of the curry paste, you should be able to see/hear it sizzle pretty violently. ) Add the remaining curry paste and quickly stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the paste is fragrant and turns dark brown.

- Add the marinated chicken and reduce heat to medium and stir constantly for around 10 minutes.

-Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes and salt and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are tender and potatoes cooked.

-This dish is traditionally served hot with fresh warm French Bagettes to soak up the deliciously thick gravy.

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