Tempura is a popular Japanese fried delicacy that is now enjoyed by people all over the world. It’s so easy to prepare that your benchtop won’t be messy as imagined. That golden crispy treat is actually healthy, too, because it uses fresh seasonal ingredients and substitutes regular cooking oil with sesame oil. The most popular of all tempura is the tempura shrimp. Second to shrimp or prawn tempura are veggie tempura and other seafood or fish ingredients like squid or fish. 

You can make your own shrimp tempura or popcorn shrimp, right in your own kitchen. Pair it with a spicy mayonnaise and zesty vinaigrette. We have the right mouth-popping recipe from SBS just for you!

Image from SBS Recipe page.

INGREDIENTS:
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
500g prawn meat, chopped into 1.5 cm pieces  
250g tempura flour (see Note)
60g mesclun (mixed) salad leaves mix    
20g finely chopped chives   

Lemon dressing
75ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)  
100ml grapeseed oil   
40ml dark soy sauce
7.5g minced garlic (about 1 heaped tsp)   
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

Spicy mayonnaise
300g good-quality whole-egg mayonnaise
50g chilli garlic paste

Tempura batter
200g tempura flour
300ml cold water

COOK’S NOTES:
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1
To make the lemon dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together to combine. Set aside. Makes 200 ml.

Step 2
To make the mayonnaise, combine the ingredients and set aside.

Step 3
To make the tempura batter, mix the ingredients until just combined until it is the consistency of thickened cream – it’s okay if there are lumps of flour visible.

Step 4
Heat the oil in deep-fryer or wok to 180°C. Lightly dust the prawns in the tempura flour, place in a sieve and shake off the excess flour. Coat the dusted prawn pieces in the cold tempura batter, then deep-fry until they are a light popcorn colour. Because the pieces are small they will not need much time to cook. The pieces should come out with a lovely crunchy coating. Remove and drain, shaking off any excess oil. If you’re using the Kleenmaid 90cm GCTEK9020 electronic gas cooktop, you’ll find that the cooktop also features auto reignition. This means if the flame is extinguished the cooktop will reignite itself after determining that it is safe to do so. Such a neat feature!

Step 5
Divide the salad leaves among bowls and dress with only a small drizzle of the lemon dressing. Toss the prawns with 20–30 g of the spicy mayonnaise so that they are evenly coated. Place the prawns (like a little mountain!) on the top of the dressed salad bed and sprinkle with the chopped chives to garnish.

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Formal dinners are social events that require guests to dress up and follow polite etiquette. Some examples are social gatherings at a hotel, formal wedding or a private function.

While dining at a nice restaurant can be expensive, you can still enjoy a special formal night “out” by recreating the same experience in your own home.

How To Have A Formal Dinner At Home:

1. Set the dining table with a clean white cloth.
2. Pick out nice dishes and utensils.
3. Prepare a centrepiece. Making one is simple. Pick out a clear bowl or glass container, and pop in fresh flowers from the garden or sweet chocolate treats wrapped in foil as a display. Even your wine can be a centrepiece.
4. If you want to go a little extra, request your guests to join your formal night with an invitation and ask them to dress up nicely!

Formal dinner nights are fun and it’s a great way to practice good manners and social etiquette. And at the end of the night, you get to toast to everyone’s successes and good health!

If you’re planning a dinner for two or a small party, you can never go wrong with good ol’ fashion steak. Here’s a recipe from Marco Pierre White shared during an episode of MasterChef.

Marco Pierre White’s Perfect Steak Recipe (Serves: 4)

INGREDIENTS:

Olive oil

4 Sirloin steak

Rosemary, picked

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Drizzle olive oil onto a grill pan and set over high heat.
2. Drizzle oil on steaks and rub all over. Season steaks with salt.
3. Place steaks on grill pan , turning to make cross hatch marks.
4. Turn steaks, sprinkle with picked rosemary and salt and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Turn off heat and allow to finish cooking and rest.
6. Drizzle with lemon juice and serve.

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We all have our childhood favourites cooked by mum or dad.

Remember that candy that makes you feel like a superhero or the cupcake baked by mum as a treat when you’re feeling down? Relive those childhood moments and favourites. If you can’t buy them at the store, you can definitely recreate some at home!

Memories of food associated with growing up influenced you in many ways. Share those memories with your love ones!

Image from Taste Recipe Page

Did mum make mini pizzas before and do you feel like recreating it? Here’s a quick and easy recipe of Mini Ham Pineapple Pizzas I found on Taste. Between you and me, I switched the ham with bacon! Yum!

INGREDIENTS:

• 30cm pizza base
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 35g shaved leg ham, thinly sliced
• 225g can pineapple pieces in natural juice, drained
• 1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan-forced. We recommend Kleenmaid’s Multifunction Oven 60CM OMF6030 because of its lock on electric timer and its lower heating element for pastries.

Lightly grease a large baking tray. Using a 7cm-round cutter, cut 8 rounds from pizza base. Place rounds on prepared tray.

Step 2

Spread each round with 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste. Top with ham, pineapple and cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and base is crisp.

And you’re done!

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Doing something together is a great and fun way to get to know each other better. Activities can bring out personalities that you’ve never seen before.

What’s the best way to get to know each other intimately? Try a new recipe! Something not too difficult and both can definitely agree on. Especially, a recipe you both haven’t tried yet!

We suggest Good Chef Bad Chef’s Ricotta Gnocchi. Sounds like a handful but it’s easy to make.

Image from Good Chef Bad Chef Recipe Page

INGREDIENTS:

• Serves 5. Time 25 minutes
• 500g ricotta
• 150g pasta tipo “00” plain flour
• ¼ cup chives, chopped
• 1 egg
• 150g parmesan
• Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and combine well with your hands.
2. Dust flour onto a benchtop and roll the pasta dough into long even strips.
3. Cut into bite sized pieces. If you’re planning to renovate your kitchen, laminate benchtops work great. They come in a range of colours to suit any taste.
4. After cutting into bite sized pieces, carefully place them into boiling water, stir around the water gently and when the gnocchi rises to the top it is cooked.
5. Remove it with a strainer.
6. Add cooked gnocchi to sauce of your choice and serve immediately.

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A while back there was a trend that went all the rage. A restaurant went viral because its main attraction is dining in the dark. The experience is expensive but a lot of diners claimed that it was worth it.

You can also recreate the same experience at home. 

1. It’s easy to do and simply a great romantic theme and can be an entertaining bonding experience.
2. It’s a fun experience for the whole family. Kids get a sensory adventure with their sense of smell, taste and sound.
3. It’s a unique culinary experience for everyone. Tip: Your usual or favourite food tastes very different without visuals. Which means you can savour your meal more.
4. A great way to appreciate how your food taste. This is why companies conduct blind taste tests. Testers rely on their taste buds than how their food looks.
5. Diners and guests will value their other senses more than their eyesight, making them aware of what each of their senses can do even when doing simple tasks. Everyone will be busy focusing on eating blind.

How to Create the Experience Of Dining In the Dark

That famous restaurant had servers using night vision goggles. You don’t need to do the same. You can recreate the same atmosphere.

1. Have it at night when the moon is not full (at its brightest).
2. Block out lights from the outside by closing windows and drawing your curtains. Have the dinner at an area that won’t be damaged by spills and has less obstacles that may cause people to trip and stumble in the dark.
3. You can use blindfold or padded eye masks in a dimly lit room. You can lead your guests to your seat better this way.
4. You can have it in your dining room or have it around your benchtop in the kitchen so that in case it gets messy, you can clean up easily. Plus, it’s easy to serve food straight from the prep area.
5. You can choose to have the food ready on the table and covered, or serve it when they are seated at the table – blindfolded. The important thing to remember is not letting them know what they’re having. Also, try to minimise the smell of the food before serving. So they won’t guess too easily!

Food for Dining In the Dark:

You can basically serve any type of food you want for this experience but make sure it’s not too messy and difficult to eat. Here are some things to remember when serving and eating food in the dark:

1. Serve meals that have texture and flavour. When you have a helpful stove or oven-like Kleenmaid’s Hydrolytic Steam Oven, it helps give you that crunch and crisp needed for your freshly baked bread or crispy roast crackling.
2. Prepare simple meals packed with flavour.
3. Whether you’d like your diners to eat with their hands, cut their food blind with their utensils or spoon feed them yourself, make sure to serve it in appropriate portions. They may have a difficult time getting food onto their spoons and into their mouth.
4. Try to avoid messy recipes with too much sauce or anything else that’s messy. Finger food works.
5. You can serve drinks with straws or in spill-proof containers.
6. Lastly, save some of the meal so that everyone can see what they ate when they’re done. They’ll have a hard time figuring out which one’s chicken and fish if they’ can’t see what they’re eating!

You can have a lot of fun with a well equipped kitchen. We at Craftbuilt Kitchens can assist you in fulfilling your kitchen dream. Upgrade your home with your new 2019 personality, goals and modern kitchen designs. Our designers at 76 Old Cleveland Road, Stones Corner are happy to help you. You can also call us at (07) 3341 9172 to set an appointment.