Opera Singer in the Kitchen

Artistry in Food, Music, and Life

Portabella Mushroom and Zucchini Tempura / Kelapo Oil Giveaway Winner

by 4 Comments

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Can it get any more humid out there? We are having a case of the sleepies in our home. We have 3 fans trying to circulate cool air in our duplex with only 1 window A/C unit in one room. It is HOT folks.


How are you coping? I have had to work from coffee shops and any place that has internet just to feel cool. A pregnant woman sure needs comfort. Despite the heat, we have been cooking around here. Last night my Ryan decided to make dinner so I wondered what he was going to come up with.


What did my husband pick to make for dinner for me and my mom? My own recipe I created last year in May quick raw Spanish Gazpacho Soup. It is ready within 10 minutes at room temperature or 1-2 hours after it is refrigerated. Perfect for when noone feels like turning on the stove or oven.
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Well, before I turn to my newest post I want to announce the winner of the Kelapo Coconut Oil. I hope the winner enjoys the oil and uses it for the coffeecake recipe they’ve been eyeing! Ashley Mauceri is the winner. If you could email me your address that would be wonderful! Thanks everyone who entered and stay tuned for the next giveaway!
Ashley said…
I think I would try a coffeecake recipe I’ve been eyeing! 🙂

Today is my mom’s last day before heading out to Houston. She is making us one more meal before Ryan takes her to the airport in Detroit, but she has been a huge help with cleaning and arranging things around our place. It is so hard to tell someone what all we need done, because there is dusting and packing and moving, etc.

 
There is still plenty of preparations to be made for our nursery and for our lives in the next 3 months before out little girl’s arrival. It feels like she will be here before we know it and it is hard not to feel stressed and a little overwhelmed.

My sleeping patterns are starting to change. I am falling asleep later and waking up earlier than usual. I am having a harder time getting out of bed especially when I need to urgently go to the bathroom! I am having a good time talking to our little girl because she is a MOVER. We were watching a movie last night with dancing and I promise she was keeping beat by beating through my tummy. It was WILD!

Anyway, something new I cooked up last was tempura. I have been craving Japanese food and sushi rolls so I quickly chopped up some mushroom caps I had in my fridge along with some delicious zucchini form the Farmer’s Market. I have been great about not eating fries after the first trimester so I did not feel guilty coming out and making this tempura.

I had kept my eye on Vegan Good Eats’ recipe called Beer-Battered Sexy Green Beans when he posted his recipe on the 4th of July. I had never made tempura with beer but with cold water and flour. Most tempuras have eggs but I loved Joel’s recipe because it is all about beer. 



When I started thinking about what to use my tempura, my sights turned to Portabella caps. I had been wanting to do something different wth them so this was the time! It was so delicious, eating them like fries, and lightly battered too! I also took some fresh zucchini and cut them in strip and battered them as well.
I made a dipping sauce that can be used to eat them along with a salad or you can stuff them in your sushi rolls to make them into vegeatable sushi rolls! Either way, you will not be sorry you tried this!

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Portabella Mushroom and Zucchini Tempura

batter recipe adapted from Vegan Good Eats

1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup beer
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 large portabella caps, sliced and cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch strips

1 1/2 cups coconut oil or sesame oil for frying

 
Make the batter:
In a medium bowl add flour and spices and mix well. Add the beer and with a whisk, mix well until the batter comes together.

Cutting the veggies:
Wipe the mushroom caps with a moist papertowel but do not submerge in water. Remove the stem from each mushroom and cut in 1/2 inch strips, then cut those strips in half lengthwise and widthwise.

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For the zucchini, slice the zucchini in half, lengthwise, then cut each half in half, widthwise. Cut into 1/2-inch strips.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a small pot if you do not have a deep fryer at home. After 5-7 minutes, sprinkling some water in the oil will indicate whether the oil is hot enough for frying. It will make some frying noises.

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Layer a plate with papertowel.

Dip each veggie strip in the batter, lightly coating them and add 4-5 pieces to the oil and fry for 3 minutes or until golden brown. With a slotted spoon, remove the tempura veggies onto the plate, in order to soak excess oil.

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Repeat process until all veggies are used. You will have batter left so you can continue with more veggies. Have fun!
Spicy Dipping sauce
1/2 cup Vegenaise
5 Tablespoons Sriracha sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
Add all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate before serving with veggies. Great for dipping.

About Noelle

I’m an opera singer, full-time mom, pharmacy technician, food and mom blogger, recipe developer, and wife to a super talented choral director living in the awesome outskirts of Philly.