This is easier than you’d think and tempura makes an impressive appetizer. The best part of this recipe is you can make whatever veggies you like, nearly anything will work.

Tempura Batter Recipe

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2/3 cup ice water

Easy – in one bowl, mix all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat the egg and ice water, then whisk in the dry ingredients. Don’t over mix, it’s ok if it’s a bit lumpy. Some people add yellow food coloring.

To keep the oil to a minimum, we used a small pan, and just enough oil that we had to flip whatever we were frying. Peanut oil has a high burning point and is a good oil to use for tempura. Above are two shrimp, skewered on bamboo sticks to keep them straight. (You can see, it’s a small pan)

This is a sampler of what we made that day, broccoli, zucchini, and the shrimp. You can use cauliflower, carrots, even chicken “fingers.”If you try this recipe, let us know. Thanks for stopping by!

written by admin \\ tags: chicken, shrimp, tempura, vegetables

There’s a secret to making good chicken soup. You need to be willing to boil the heck out of a lot of chicken. Start with a large stock pot, ours is 16 quarts. Buy two nice sized (or three if not so big) chickens. Cut into pieces, if you want, take the wings out for Buffalo wings, and a breast for another meal if you wish. Cover with fresh water and bring to boil.

After about an hour, pull out the white meat, take it off the bones and throw the bones back in. Save the white meat to put back in the soup before serving. Now, put in eight peeled carrots, eight stalks of celery, both cut into big pieces, and one large onion, peeled and cut up. A bit of black pepper as well, 1/4 tsp or so. Simmer for another two hours and strain to get the stock you see above. You can spend a bit of time and pull of the meat for chicken salad or to serve over rice or noodles. On a good sale whole chickens are under a dollar per pound, and this stock is well worth the ten dollars or so spent on the chickens. You’ll notice I don’t add salt. I’d rather adjust the final seasoning when the stock is used for the dish I’m serving. This freezes very well, and with the winter coming up great to make on snowy days when you’d rather stay in doors.

written by admin \\ tags: chicken, chicken stock, soup