Kid's Favourite Bento

I love to put variety food in my kids' lunch boxes. This time, these are their favourites : sausage rolls, siomay and chicken ragout rissoles. Perfect snacks for little fingers.

Here I share the Chicken Ragout Rissoles recipe :

Chicken Ragout Rissoles
adapted from Indochine Kitchen

Ingredients:
For filling
1 onion, chopped
125 g chicken, cubed
150 g carrots, boiled and cubed
150 g potatoes, boiled and cubed ( I used sweet corn kernel instead)
50 g peas
30 g celery, boiled and cubed
125 ml milk
75 g flour
200 ml chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil

For skin wrapper
1 egg
50 ml milk
1/2 tsp salt
70 g flour
150 g water
1 tbsp butter, melted

For crumbing
4 egg whites
400 g bread crumbs
Oil for deep-frying

directions:
For filling
Heat oil over medium heat. Stir-fry onion until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add chicken pieces, cook for about 3 more minutes.
Combine carrot, corn kernel, celery and peas into the wok. Continue cooking until all ingredients are well distributed, about 2 minutes.
Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt.
Add flour and stir continuously for 5 minutes.
Pour milk and chicken stock into the wok. Let simmer for 5 minutes, till the mixture thickens, stirring a couple of times to ensure even cooking.
Turn off heat and let cool.

For wrapper
Combine flour, salt, water milk, butter and egg yolk in a bowl.
Whisk mixture to a thin batter.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into a lightly oiled and preheated non-stick pan (20cm).
Cook until the sides start to curl up, about 1-2 minutes over medium heat.
Loosen the sides with fork and flip the pan quickly on a plate to get the wrapper off.
Continue with the rest of the batter.

For assembling
Place a tablespoon of filling into the middle of a wrapper.
Roll the side of wrapper away from you, form a 5cm log.
Fold both sides to the middle, ensuring no gaps.
Roll the risoles up and brush the tip with egg white for sealing.

For crumbing
Prepare two plates, egg white and crumbs each.
Dip risoles into egg white. Coat it with crumbs.
Dip the crumbed risoles back into egg white and coat it again with more crumbs.

For frying
Heat cooking oil in a saucepan.
Lower the rolls into hot oil, two or three at a time.

Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Ready to serve.


Details as below :

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage roll (recipe here) and BBQ sauce
2. Siomay (recipe here)
3. Chicken ragout risoles
4. Apple cuts for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage roll (recipe here) 
2. Siomay (recipe here)
3. Chicken ragout risoles (recipe here)
4. Roast beetroot sticks
5. Segmented orange for recess

Yummy Bento

These are my kids favourite lunchbox filler. Many recipes use puff pastry, such as sausage rolls, mummy dog, and puff pastry rolls. 

For my eldest son, I prepared:
1. Scotch egg (recipe here) with herb mayo
2. Puff pastry rolls
3. Corn on the cob
4. Milk jelly with nata de coco
5. Carrot sticks
6. Green seedless grapes for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared:
1. Sausage roll with ketchup
2. Mummy dogs
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Carrot sticks
5. Banana for recess

Scotch Egg and Sausage Roll Bento

I packed the boys' school lunches in Easy Lunchboxes. These lunchboxes soon become my favourite because it is spacious and very easy to clean. 

I tried the scotch egg recipe from My Kitchen Rules 2015 contestants, Will and Steve and quite enjoy the flavour. Here I share you the recipe :

Scotch Egg with Herb Mayonnaise 
by Will and Steve (My Kitchen Rules 2015 Contestants)

Ingredients :

Salt and pepper, to season
4 eggs, plus 1 extra, lightly beaten
400g pork sausage meat
1 tsp ground fennel
1½ tsp English mustard
15g (¼ cup) fresh breadcrumbs
Plain flour, to dust
90g (1¼ cup) fresh breadcrumbs, plus extra, to coat
Thinly sliced fennel and radish, to serve

HERB MAYONNAISE

3 egg yolks
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
250ml (1 cup) light olive oil
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp finely chopped sage
1 tsp finely chopped parley
1 tsp finely chopped dill

Method :
To make mayonnaise, process egg yolks, vinegar and lemon juice in a food processor until well combined. With the motor running, gradually add oil, drop by drop at first, then in a thin, steady stream until thick and emulsified. Stir in remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until required.

Place eggs in a large saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil, then boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove and place in iced water to cool completely. Peel. Combine sausage meat with fennel, mustard and breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Divide into four portions.

Using slightly moistened hands, roll one portion into a ball and flatten evenly in the palm of your hand. Place 1 egg in centre and fold in sausage meat, shaping and moulding to form an even layer around egg. Repeat with remaining sausage meat and eggs.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Dust meat-wrapped eggs in flour, dip in extra egg and then coat in breadcrumbs. Dip again in egg and breadcrumbs to form a double layer.
Fill a deep-fryer or large saucepan one-third full with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat to 180C (or until a cube of bread turns golden in 10 seconds). 

Dust each meat-wrapped egg in four, then dip in extra egg, allow excess to drain off, then coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat to form a double layer. 
Gently drop eggs into the oil and fry, turning halfway, for 2-3 minutes or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

Add to an oven tray and roast for 8-10 minutes or until extra crisp.
Serve scotch eggs with mayonnaise, fennel and radish.

For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Scotch Egg with herb mayo
2. Risoles ragout
3. Broccoli and cheese
4. Carrot sticks
5. Green seedless grape for recess

For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Sausage roll with tomato ketchup
2. Risoles ragout
3. Milk jelly with nata de coco
4. Corn on the cob
5. Carrot sticks
6. Green seedless grape for recess

You may find Easy Lunchbox here :

Pork Fennel Sausage Rolls

I'm a big fan of My Kitchen Rules TV show and this pork fennel sausage rolls recipe by Ash and Camilla is absolut delish! 


PORK FENNEL SAUSAGE ROLLS 
Adapted from Ash and Camilla's (MKR) recipe

Ingredients :
1 tbs fennel seeds
1 tbs mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon, finely chopped
200g pork mince
200g veal mince
50g (½ cup) breadcrumbs
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
1 orange, zested
2 eggs

Method :

1.Dry-fry seeds and cumin in a small frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute or until fragrant. 

2. Using a mortar and pestle, grind spices to a paste.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. 

4. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until softened. 

5. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until golden. 

6. Stir in spices. Cook for a further 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. 

7. Transfer to a bowl and add remaining ingredients. 

8. Using your hands, mix to combine.

9. Place a quarter of the filling along the centre of one pastry sheet. 

10. Roll to enclose. Cut into three pieces. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. 

11. Place sausage rolls on prepared tray. 

12. Brush with egg, then sprinkle with combined fennel and poppy seeds.

13. Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.

The boys had similar lunches, it consists of :
1. Pork fennel sausage rolls with tomato ketchup
2. Corn on the cob
3. Spring roll

And for recess they had strawberry yogurt and banana.