Archive for June, 2006

Fritatta recipe & Laptop Lunch

Pulled out the mini frypan for this one.

Fritatta lunch

I love Lizano sauce!!! It’s like the national sauce of Costa Rica — they have bottles of it on restaurant tables like there are bottles of ketchup in the U.S. Great on beans/rice, vegetables, meat, and (my favorite) eggs. Green heroin — yum. Packed in our Laptop Lunchbox.

Mini-frittata recipe (serves 1)

1/2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 large sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 Tb vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb aji amarillo puree (Peruvian yellow chiles — not that hot) (optional)

  1. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and aji amarillo puree (and any herbs you want to use). Set aside.
  2. Turn on your broiler (or salamander) with the oven rack in the top position.
  3. In an 8″ nonstick mini-frypan, heat the vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and sausage (or whatever other fillings you’d like to use), and saute until slightly brown and the zucchini is cooked through. I added a 1/4 cup of water and covered for a couple of minutes to speed the zucchini cooking, then removed the lid and cooked the water off.
  4. Reduce heat to medium, and add the egg mixture to the pan. Stir with a rubber spatula until large curds have formed, then stop stirring and reduce heat slightly.
  5. When it looks like the bottom has set up (about 1 minute later), put the frypan under the broiler until the top is puffy and turns a golden brown.
  6. Remove from heat and let it sit for 3-5 minutes off heat. Residual heat will continue cooking the eggs and help the egg release from the pan.
  7. Use the rubber spatula to gently release the frittata from the pan. Turn out on a cutting board and cut into wedges with a sharp knife. Trim the wedges as necessary to fit them into your lunch container. EAT!

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Published by Biggie on June 29th, 2006 tagged Laptop Lunchbox, eggs, meat, recipe, sandwich or wrap | 8 Comments »

Steamed bun bento for toddler

Having sent my husband off with the speed bento, next came my son’s lunch.

Steamed bun bento for toddler

Chinese steamed bun, orange grape tomatoes, octo-dogs, over-easy fried quail’s egg (on its side), and blueberries. And of course, my son rejected the cute quail’s egg (but devoured the octodogs, as usual)!

Tip: When frying quail eggs, don’t try to break them along the middle with your fingers like you would a chicken egg. The membrane is quite thick and you’ll end up with broken yolk. Open it more like a soft-boiled egg: tap around the end with a sharp knife and peel off the small cap of shell. Turn the egg upside down and shake it out of the opening you’ve created.

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Published by Biggie on June 28th, 2006 tagged bento, dumplings or buns, eggs, lactose free, meat | Comment now »

Gyoza and broccoli lunch

This is my “roll out of bed and realize I haven’t planned today’s lunch” bento.

Gyoza and broccoli lunch

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Published by Biggie on June 28th, 2006 tagged bento, dumplings or buns, lactose free, onigiri or sushi, rice | 3 Comments »

Homemade tamales

Made tamales with a friend this weekend — so much effort, but so much fun (and the end product was worth it — lighter and fluffier than commercial tamales).

Homemade tamale lunch

* Tamales: Top layer is pork carnitas and mole sauce, bottom layer is fresh corn, Oaxaca cheese and tomatillo sauceAssembled Tamale
* Chontaleño blanco cheese, and tomatoes
* homemade guacamole, salsa verde, and Salvadorean crema
* grilled flap meat finished with a sweet and sour chipotle sauce (recipe from Cook’s Illustrated)
* white cranberry, peach and apple juice cut with water

All packed in my Lock & Lock bento set here and here.

Tamales in the steamer. Corn on the left, carnitas on the right. Yum!

Tamales in the steamer

Covered with the extra corn husks before steaming, aluminum foil loosely wadded and stuffed into the gap between the two sets of tamales:

Tamales in the steamer

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Published by Biggie on June 27th, 2006 tagged bento, corn tortillas or masa, meat | Comment now »

Indian curries

I always fall back to the thermal lunch jars to pack curries that’ll stay warm for hours:

Indian curries

Clockwise from upper left:

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Published by Biggie on June 26th, 2006 tagged curry, meat, poultry, rice, thermal lunch jar | Comment now »

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