Monday, May 21, 2012
PiccyContents:Mini-Burgers tossed in a BBQ sauce
Mashed Potato Balls
Cabbage Kinpira
Dill Pickles
Pickled Yellow Squash
About:This is a good example of how I throw together a bento. I depend a lot on freezer items and leftovers. The Mini-Burgers and Kinpira were made up previously in batches and frozen for later use. The Potato Balls were made using leftover mashed potatos. And, of course, there's always some room left over that gets filled with something from the fridge or pantry, like today's pickles.
I've been thinking off and on of making up some mini-meatloaves to have in the freezer for bentos. But now I'm thinking that these burgers will do just fine. They're very versatile depending on what sauce you put on them. (The recipe is from the Just Bento Cookbook.) I still need to learn to make those things smaller, though, so they will fit better into my bento box.
The Potato Balls were a disaster to cook, really. I was hoping for something more like a croquette, but didn't add enough corn starch for them to hold together very well while frying. I fried them in the same pan as the burgers after removing the burgers, so they cooked in the BBQ sauce. That added awesome flavour! But when trying to pack them into the box, they were just...I don't know...impossible. So I rolled them into balls. They taste amazing, but there has to be an easier way to do this. I dislike using cornstarch in potatoes because of the bad taste I get from that, and we don't keep potato starch on hand. Any suggestions on this would be welcomed!
So there you have it. My first bento that I've prepared in maybe months.
