Tempura served with cold soba noodles

At the farmers market near home, I found some beautiful zucchini blossoms, they are delicious crisply fried and so I felt inspired to create a tempura menu, with prawns, scallops, shitake mushrooms, asparagus and Japanese shiso leaves. Here's the recipe for a fluffy and light batter (I had to double the ingredients for this meal). For the tempura sauce, it's best to grate yourself the turnip and ginger for a fresh taste, and add to the soy based dipping sauce....

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, about 6 scallops, cleaned, and assorted vegetable (thickly sliced onions, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini blossoms etc.)
• 2 quarts oil for deep frying
• 1/4 cup self rising flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer or large wok to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together self rising flour, ice water, cornstarch, egg yolk, salt, white sugar, and sesame oil
3. One at a time, dip shrimp into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully place a few shrimp at a time in the hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown on all sides, about 1 1/2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove from oil. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the scallops and vegetable.

For the soba, cook as per package instruction. Serve with soba dipping sauce, and with minced scallions and sea weed, and a little wasabi on the side, so people could add to the sauce themselves according to their preference.

Whole wheat Pasta with Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese

 Home made pasta tastes so much fresher, and this is our favorite whole wheat recipe for a healthier twist.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil
Directions

Stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center, and pour in the olive oil. Break eggs into it one at a time, while mixing quickly with a fork until the dough is wet enough to come together. Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is stiff and elastic. Cover, and let stand for 30 minutes to relax.
Roll out dough by hand with a rolling pin, and put it through a pasta machine several times to achieve the desired thickness of noodles. Cut into linguine strips. Allow the pasta to air dry for at least 15 minutes to avoid having it clump together. Then blanch in salted boiling water till al dente.

Tonight I serve the pasta with sauteed mixed green vegetable, roasted red and yellow peppers,mushrooms, sliced heirloom tomatoes in a little olive oil, then add generous portion of goat cheese, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper, then a handful of fresh basil leaves. Delicious and wholesome...