Guacamole

Guacamole, who doesn't like it? I made this at night so a quick sandwich can be made with it in the morning.
Guacamole says itself.

1/30/2013

In the bento: brown rice, sunny-side up quail egg, sauteed asparagus, braised pork liver, cabbage sauteed with carrot, balsamic roasted chicken drumstick.

1/28/2013

In the bento: brown rice, braised pig liver, sauteed green pepper, caramelized onion with mushroom, quail egg, cherry tomato, sauteed cabbage with long bean.

Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Sparkler Cookie

I prefer to call it shortbread since it's so rich with butter. The texture is exactly like shortbread but taste less sweet because of the small amount sugar and dark cocoa powder. I made the dough log before Christmas and stored it in the fridge. It's a good way for a quick and yummy snack. The recipe is here.

1/25/2013

In the bento: carrot cilantro cooked rice and red quinoa, steamed pompano fish, sauteed green pepper with black fungus.

1/24/2013

In the bento: rice+black sticky rice, sauteed bitter melon, sauteed carrot with cilantro, steamed pompano fish, sauteed cabbage with mushroom.

1/23/2013

In the bento: brown rice+spelt, sauteed carrot, braised beef tendon, sauteed vegetable, quail egg, sauteed bitter melon, long bean with ground pork.

1/22/2013

In the bento: brown rice+spelt, long bean with ground pork, quail egg, sauteed pea sprout, braised beef tendon, sauteed carrot, pan fried daikon cake.

Daikon Cake

Winter is the season for daikon, when this root vegetable is sweet, juicy and flavorful. They are delicious in stew and soup, but also very tasty when mixed with rice flour to make a quick snack. I  used aobut 2 pound of daikon, with some shiitake mushroom and Chinese style sausage. They are sauteed until soften in the pan, then slowly mixed in rice flour until a paste texture is formed. The mixture then transferred into a baking dish and covered to bake at 375 for about 60 min. Let it cool complete, then cut into squares and pan fried them when serve.

Zeppole

Zeppole, an Italian version of donuts, also a popular Italian street food. It's very simple to make at home. Use the basic dough, the flavor can be creative. I added some orange zest into the dough and sprinkle with more orange mixed sugar when eat. It's like bite into a crispy air pillow, light and delightful.

1/18/2013

In the bento: brown rice+black sticky rice, sauteed snow pea, sauteed cabbage, steamed white fish, braised egg, kabocha

1/17/2013

In the bento: steamed brown rice with black sticky rice, sauteed cabbage with carrot, snow pea, green pepper, braised pork belly.

1/15/2012

In the bento: brown rice+black sticky rice, steamed white fish, sauteed snow pea, red pepper, sauteed celery, braised beef and shiitake mushroom.

1/14/2013

In the bento: brown rice, steamed fish, braised egg, sauteed cabbage, sauteed snow pea with red pepper

1/11/2012

In the bento: brown rice, sauteed onion with mushroom, sauteed red pepper, mushroom, braised egg, braised beef.

Ricotta Cocoa Cranberry Muffins

It is been so long since the last time I made myself some muffins for breakfast. I used a recipe that I liked with a twist of adding cranberry instead of chocolate chips. Well, I didn't expect that it turns out to be this boring. Yes, you see it right, boring. Flavor wise, nothing is particular exciting, while the texture is slightly chewy for reason I don't know. Maybe the this time it shows a sign of stop using this recipe.

1/7/2013

The first bento post in 2013, here starts a new year!
In the bento: boeuf bourguignon, sauteed broccoli, red pepper with shittake mushroom, snow pea, brown rice.

Baked Chilean Sea Bass

Chilean sea bass is a kind of fish that I don't cook very well. It's so delicate that I worry about overcooking it. I have tried steam, and pan-fry before but neither of them works for me. This time, I baked it with breadcrumb with knob of butter on top. It was perfectly cooked! The richness of the fish and the crispy top was like a symphony in the mouth.

Béchamel Sauce Baked Cauliflower

Thinking about the heavy meals I am going to have in days, today's lunch featured a light vegetable dish: baked cauliflower with bechamel sauce. It is a simple bechamel sauce but I added additional basil (frozen cubes from store bought) to perfume it a bit. It will be better to have some parmigiano sprinkle on the top, but I didn't have any at hand. So the dish was baked for 45 minutes. Next time, I will add few more minutes to brown the top.  

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

The last bit of fresh vegetable in the fridge was used in making this sweet potato gnocchi. I like the natural sweetness in the gnocchi from sweet potato. Also, I added ricotta, which provided a litter bit of richness. The cooked gnocchi tasted like airy pillow, yum!!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Should I say too much about this? I was thinking the Julie and Julia movie that when Julie said to the butcher "I am making boeuf bourguignon, Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon", how delight her face was.
And me too, when the aroma of the wine filled every corner of the house, my hair, and everywhere. Needless to say, this is good.

Assorted Goodies

As can be seen obviously, if possible, my breakfast always involves fish and avocado. Croissant with them, home-made bread with them, cheese with them, all possibilities. I can't stop wondering, how people originally found avocado eatable, and why smoked salmon?

Breakfast Duo

When there is abundant avocado and banana, then duo sandwich happens. For weeks, I have been keeping eating avocados that were bought too many from many trips of the grocery shopping. Bowls and bowls of guacamole, avocado milkshake, avocado pound cake, and so on. Still the speed of consuming is way slow than buying. For this duo, one is banana with peanut butter, the other is guacamole with smoke salmon.

Homemade Panini w/ Brie and Dark Chocolate

Nothing tastes better than melted cheese. I particularly like panini with melt brie and chocolate. When I got brie on sale, that's how I ate the entire thing. It is great for an afternoon snack, and breakfast with a cup of black coffee.

Honey Wheat Bagel w/ Avocado and Smoke Salmon

Have I said that bagels at Wegman's are amazing good? I always get a dozen whenever I go there and freeze them for a week's supply.
My favorite sandwich combination has to be avocado+ smoke salmon+ cheese. In the morning that I don't work, I will make fresh soy milk to enrich the home-made breakfast.
So here I had a comfy and delicious breakfast that gave me energy for the day.