Trick-or-Treaters Bento

Last week I made Max, the King of all Wild Things, and I thought that I would use the same idea to make kids with bear costumes for a Halloween themed bento. The bear costume is made from an egg sheet and the faces are cut from bologna. I also made a small pumpkin patch below the trick-or-treaters with carrots and thyme (for the vine). I also cut out a few pumpkin shaped carrots. Paige requested the same lunch of chicken katsu and homemade bacon, which was great because the katsu was already prepped. I just had to pull a few pieces from the freezer last night to thaw, so that I could cook it this morning.

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Katsu Bites:

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2 inch chunks

Garlic salt and pepper to taste

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups panko + more for packing

Oil for frying

Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then season with garlic salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off the excess. Beat the egg with the water and sugar to make an egg wash. Then dredge the floured chicken in the egg wash and then liberally coat with panko. Deep fry until golden and cooked through.

To freeze, line a container with a thin layer of panko. Place uncooked breaded chicken in the container in a single layer. Sprinkle with another thin layer of panko and place another layer of chicken on top. Repeat process, cover, then freeze until needed.

Paige likes a ketchup sauce with it and the recipe is as follows:

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

For those interested in the homemade bacon recipe, Dan said that he got it from the L.A. Times letter, The recipe for maple-cured smoked bacon. Dan uses Grade B maple syrup for the recipe and during the smoking process, he uses a kamado oven and wood chips which adds to the flavor of the bacon. I am definitely going to try out the recipe using Dan’s tips. I have an ancient kamado oven, which looks nothing like the picture on the kamado link, but it still works great! The recipe also gives instruction on making it in an oven if you don’t have a smoker. Thanks Dan for the link and your tips.

About these ads