We had chicken roast leftover, so I decided to make wrap for the kids' lunch boxes. The wrap contains roast chicken, wrap, grated carrot, lettuce, avocado, roma tomato with cheese, sour cream and BBQ sauce. I sticked in Panda foodpick for extra cuteness.
Alongside the wrap, I added bitterballens (Dutch Beef Croquettes)for them. Here I share you the recipe :
Bitterballen
Ingredients :
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup beef broth
1 beef top sirloin steak (3/4 pound), cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used Corned beef instead)
1 small carrot, diced
1 small celery stick, diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-1/3 cups dry bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon canola oil
Oil for deep-fat frying
Directions :
1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in flour until smooth.
3. Gradually add broth; bring to a boil.
4. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.
5. Carefully add meat/corned beef, cook and stir for 2-5 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.
6. Add diced carrot and celery, stir for another 1 minutes.
7. Stir in the salt, nutmeg and pepper.
8. Transfer to a bowl; refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until chilled.
9. Place bread crumbs in a small shallow bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and oil.
10. Drop meat mixture by tablespoonfuls into bread crumbs; shape into balls. 11. Dip meatballs in egg mixture, then coat again with crumbs.
12. In a deep fryer, heat oil to 375°.
13. Fry meatballs, a few at a time, for 2-4 minutes or until golden brown on all sides.
14. Drain on paper towels.
Details for the bento boxes as below :
For my eldest son, I prepared :
1. Chicken wrap
2. Bitterballens
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks
5. Watermelon cuts for recess
My youngest son had the similar lunches with his big brother, but he had banana for recess instead.
The lunches were packed in Easy Lunchboxes and decorated with Panda foodpick. You may find them here:
Brioche is a pastry of French origin that is similar to a highly enriched bread, and which high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb (Wikipedia). I love its sweet, buttery, and soft texture.
For the boys I put ham, cheese, and lettuce fillings. Then I decorated the brioche with cheese and nori for the eyes, and black sesame seeds for the nostrils. As simple as that :)
For the side, I got leftover San Choy Bow for the kids. San Choy Bow is a deliciously flavoured chicken or pork mince wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves and eaten with bare hands. For the boys, I put the salad and lettuce separately.
Here I share you the recipe :
Pork San Choy Bow
Ingredients :
1 iceberg lettuce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon shao hsing wine
1 small read onion, finely sliced
1 x 2cm piece ginger, julienne
400g lean pork mince
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced
Any vegetables like carrots, bean sprouts, capsicum, string beans or even snowpeas.
A handful of coriander or Vietnamese mint, finely chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 spring onions, finely sliced
Method :
1. Discarding the outer leaves, carefully cut the whole leaves from the lettuce head, trim them to form cups.
2. In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, shao hsing wine, set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat.
4. Add mushrooms, garlic, red onion and ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 5. Add pork and cook, stir to break up any clumps of meat for 8-10 minutes or until brown and cooked through.
6. Drain off any excess liquid.
7. Add the vegetables and stir for a few minutes.
8. Stir oyster sauce mixture, then add to pan and stir to combine.
9. Allow mixture to cool a little.
10. Place lettuce leaves on serving plates and divide meat mixture between them.
11. Drizzle hoisin sauce over meat and sprinkle with spring onions and the herbs.
For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Ham and cheese monster brioche
2. Corn on the cob
3. San choy bow
4. Kiwi fruit for recess
His brother had the same lunch, but he had apple checker for recess instead.
The lunches were packed with Easy Lunchboxes that you may find here :
The potato croquettes remind me of my childhood back in Indonesia. I used to go to the market with my mom, and she always bought me this croquette for a snack. Now I make them for my sons, and they are fond of them too :)
Here is the recipe :
Indonesian Potato Croquettes
Ingredients :
Potato Mash:
600 gr potatoes
1 lightly beaten egg
pinch of nutmeg
1/8 tsp white pepper
salt to taste
Filling:
250gr minced chicken
1 small onion
1 large garlic clove
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
2 pcs carrots, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas and corn
1 tsp white sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Coating:
2 large eggs
1 to 1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 to 2 cups breadcrumbs
+ oil for deep-frying (canola or peanut oil)
Method :
For potato mash :
1. Peel the potatoes and boil them in slightly salted water for 25 minutes until completely tender.
2. Drain the potatoes and sprinkle in the nutmeg and white pepper. Start mashing until creamy and lump-free.
3. Let the potatoes cool off a little before adding the egg.
4. Stir in the egg. This will make it rich, creamy, and a lot easier to work with.
For the filling :
1. Chop the onion. Heat a little butter and sauté the onion until it turns soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2. Add minced chicken and break it up with a spatula. Cook until it loses its pinkness.
3. Add the diced carrot, peas and corn.
4. Crumble in a bouillon cube, black pepper, nutmeg and pour in the kecap manis. Let it simmer for a minute or two and let the mixture cool off.
For finishing up :
1. Use 3 shallow plates and fill them with flour, lightly beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.
2. Grab about a 2 tbs mashed potatoes, flatten it a bit, place a tbsp of the meat mixture in the center, gently fold the mashed potatoes around the meat.
3. Roll the croquette in the flour and shake off the excess flour, do the same with the egg and breadcrumb.
4. Repeat for all the mixture and the mashed potatoes.
5. Cover the croquettes with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Preferably overnight.
6. Deep-fry the croquettes (don’t overcrowd the pan) at 180ºC for 4 to 5 minutes until beautifully golden brown and crunchy on the outside.
For my youngest son, I prepared :
1. Potato croquette
2. Chicken, bacon, and leek pie (recipe here)
3. Corn on the cob
4. Carrot sticks
5. Sultanas
6. Kiwi for recess
My eldest son had the similar lunch with his brother, but he had apple cuts for recess instead.
The lunches are packed in Easy Lunchboxes. You may find them here :
