Tempura makes the same old thing new again – Redneck cooking

How do you put some excitement in that tired old dish? Batter up, baby.

Around my house we tend to get into a food rut. We eat the same old things week in and week out. Now, I can eat cheese burgers every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and be happy with that, but my wife likes variety in the dinner menu. We have watched many of the cooking shows on TV for new recipe ideas and have spent a good amount of time searching the web for new ideas as well. The biggest problem with all of that is most of the recipes we have found use ingredients we have never used, or in some cases, never even heard of and we have no idea where to even get these ingredients. So is there a simple and easy way to prepare the same old thing that will make it new again?

I don’t know if this really makes the same old thing new again, but it is a simple and easy way to make a tasty dish out of just about anything. What I like to do is whip up a batch of my tempura batter and then deep fry it. I have tried some of the ready-made tempura batter mixes in the past and have not cared for them at all so I came up with my own we have used this batter for many different things. We have used this on chicken, fish, hot dogs, onions and even leftover pork roast to create tasty treats to add to the menu.

Tempura batter

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Ingredients:

1/2 cup corn starch
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
water, just enough to give the consistency of pancake batter

Whip the eggs, salt, and pepper until smooth.

Mix in the flour, corn starch, and baking powder until no large lumps remain.

Add the water until the pancake consistency is obtained.

This recipe will make enough batter for about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts.

After mixing up the batter, take whatever it is you are planning to deep fry and coat it with corn starch. This step is the key as it helps the batter bind to your meat.

Dip the meat into the batter and coat thoroughly. Let the excess batter drain off and carefully drop into 350 degree oil. You can use a deep fryer or a pan of oil on the stove for the cooking. cooking times will vary depending on the size of the food you are cooking. I have found that the best results for chicken breasts are to either cut them into uniform bite size pieces about 2 inch square or 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick strips. Most chicken breasts are so thick in places that the batter tends to get a little over done before the chicken is cooked through. For the bite size pieces, cook 5 to 8 minutes. So the next time you are struggling to find a way to freshen up dinner, try this simple tempura recipe. I am sure you will be happy with the results.