Beard's Beer Batter
Ingredients
2 eggs, separated
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp salt
3/4 cup beer, room temperature
3/4 cup flour
Preparation
The ultimate batter for deep frying... DIRECTIONS:
BEER! Whether it's ale, lager, pilsener, or stout, is terrific for
cooking. Beer makes a batter for deep frying and smooths a French
onion soup. And what could be more compatible for lunch on a rainy
Vancouver weekend out on the boat fishing for Spring salmon than a
cold beer with a hot pastrami sandwich smothered with brown beer
mustard?
This is the late James Beard's recipe for batter to French fry
vegetables. Trim your veggies, wash, dry thoroughly, dust with flour,
dip into the batter, and fry in oil at 360 F. until done. However,
James "missed the boat" on this one - it's far better for deep frying
halibut, cod, or any other seafood. The batter puffs up because of
the beer's yeast, fries quickly, and as a result, doesn't commit the
cardinal sin of seafood preparation - overcooking. I think few of
our piscine friends benefit from deep frying as a cooking method, but
that's another story.
To prepare, place flour in a mixing bowl and add egg yolks, salt,
oil, and beer. Stir batter until thoroughly mixed. Cover bowl with
plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours
or as long as 24 - the longer the better, to a point. Just before
using batter, stir it well again. In a separate bowl, beat egg
whites until stiff but not dry; gently fold egg whites into batter.
Does 2 lbs. of veggies or 6 fish fillets, depending upon their size.
Makes 4 servings.
Servings: 4
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