You can fight the sleep but not the dream

[venta]

I did promise that I wouldn't post about my dinner much any more. However, here is a bento from a week or two ago that I made to fulfill a promise to huskyteer...

I've been pottering along happily with my bento boxes, grabbing frozen rice to defrost each morning. Then suddenly one evening I thought, right tomorrow I'll have... er... oh. No, I won't. No rice.

Can I be bothered to cook rice from scratch in the morning? Er... probably not. If you're doing Japanese-style rice properly, it takes bloody ages. Hmm. Maybe tomorrow is a day for going to the work canteen.

Or... Hmm. I formed a plan, got a bit of smoked haddock out of the freezer to thaw, and went to bed.

The following morning I got up, washed a handful of basmati rice and threw it on to boil with turmeric. I rubbed the bit of fish with garam masala and powdered ginger, wrapped it in foil and popped it in the oven to bake. I stuck an egg on to boil. I chopped a piece of a portable mushroom up finely, and some spring onions.

And, er, I poached some celery in wine, which wasn't really very on-message but celery was the only thing I had on hand remote resembling a green vegetable. Spinach would have been a better bet.

The result... the deconstructed kedgeree bento:



As you can see, my ability to take in-focus pictures first thing in the morning hasn't improved.

It was moderately successful as a lunchbox. The rice - despite being alledgedly flavoured with turmeric, and having onion and mushroom mixed through it - was a little bland. I know the turmeric-flavouring works well for something you're going to eat hot, but it doesn't stand up well to being eaten cold.

Suggestions for improvement are welcome, though with a prep. time of nearly forty minutes this one ain't happening often.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have a magical ceramic garlic grater (http://www.betterware.co.uk/ceramic-grater-plate-set.html) which makes pureed garlic really easy and means you don't have to have the horror of trying to wash up a garlic press afterwards.

Mind you, the squirty tube is probably still considerably easier! I don't have particular nose-down issues with squirty garlic, it's just the kind of thing I never think of.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Wow - weird gadget! Still, if it works that's pretty useful.

(Also reminds me I haven't got around to blogging that I tried the implausible garlic trick and that really works too!)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Wow, does it really? That wasn't just stunt garlic?

I wanted to try it, but haven't needed that much garlic peeled at once since I saw it (and figured it wouldn't work with a small amount).

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

It's... possible I still have quite a lot of garlic in the fridge as a result.

<looks shifty>

[triskellian]

I tried the implausible garlic trick, and it didn't work :-(

[venta.livejournal.com]

Wrong kind of garlic, I expect :)

I'm not entirely sure I own two sufficiently matching bowls to try it, actually...

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

that looks great! -- and at only 2.99, how could anyone resist it. I usually just crush the clove with the flat of a knife, pick the skin out, and chop what's left, but yours looks like a lot more fun.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm slightly bitter because I paid rather more for mine :)

The plate copes really, really well with ginger, too, which is somewhat more faff otherwise. You end up with a neat little pile of puree, and a handlful of coarse fibrous stuff to throw away.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Ah, that sounds good, ginger really is a pain. I generally cheat and use frozen pureed, but this might tempt me back to the light side.

Plus, I guess if you collect the coarse, fibrous stuff, you could eventually stuff seat cushions with it, or spin it into doormats or something.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I now have to find 32 quid's worth of other stuff to get the free delivery… hmm…

[venta.livejournal.com]

Surely you have 10 friends who also might need a garlic grater as a Christmas present :)