Back bentoing

Wow, when you have look and hunt for your last bento, something is definitely amiss!! Ha ha. Yes I know that I have taken a long break, unintentionally at first and then well, it quickly formed into a permanent break I suppose - the many excuses I could list out.

So here's my bento for the year. A bit 'rusty' and dusty but am glad to be bento-ing again.

Could two faces make up a 'Gemini bento'??

Not too sure myself but was all excited about was testing out my new face punchers. They are much bigger than I envisaged.

In this box is some fried noodles, fish cake, fried sweet potato and stir fry mixed vegetables.

Cheesy herb puffs

Surprisingly these turned out to be D and M’s favourite dish at our little lunch gathering. Little did they know that they are actually quite easy to make.

They could also be known as dumplings in the UK or biscuits in the States. Well whatever you wish to call them, they were very fragrant, have a light texture and can be pretty addictive too.

Ingredients
(yields about 16 small balls, less if you make larger ones)

1.5 cups self raising flour
90g butter, cold and cut into smaller pieces
5-6 tbsp of cold milk (or more to bind the flour into a dough)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh chive
1/3 cup grated cheese
2 tsp parmesan
¼ tsp paprika
pinch of salt
If you prefer with more herbs, can add additional dash of dried herbs – sweet basil, mint and thyme.

1. Shift flour into bowl.
2. Rub butter into flour until resemble small breadcrumbs.
3. Mix in cheese, herbs and rest of seasoning. Add sufficient milk to bind everything into a soft dough.

4. Lightly knead dough for about 2 min until smooth.
5. Divide dough into small balls.
6. Brush with milk.
7. Bake in pre-heated oven of 180 degrees for 15 to 20 min until nice and golden brown in colour.
8. Cool on rack before serving.


Bench notes - Can prepare dough ahead, keep them covered and refrigerated before baking them. If preparing ahead, best to divide and shape the dough first. Otherwise remove dough out of refrigerator at least 3o mins to soften a little before shaping them.