2 eggs, separated
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp salt
3/4 cup beer, room temperature
3/4 cup flour
Directions
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 servings
Beard's Beer Batter Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Alcohol; Beer; Beverages
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to follow the history of recipes far back into history, in truth as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, mostly, these old cook books were just simple hieroglyphic instructions for preparing food.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to historians is a collection of stone tablets in the Sumerian language which describe the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel blissful and exhilarated. Progressing into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a number of documents which described recipes enjoyed by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius recounts how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into appetizers, main meal and desserts, a style of dining still practiced today. He also informs us how the ancient cooks made use of many spices and herbs, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens for example basil, fennel and asafoetida. Moving on, we find a couple of interesting cookery books which appeared in the 14th Century : one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these two books have no connection with the spicy food that is popular today, but rather accounts of the types of food on the menues of the upper classes of those days. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought back many new foods and herbs from the holy lands, such as parsley, basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes created an explosion in cookery books, many of which still exist in private libraries. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cook books were increasing in popularity mostly as a result of better eduction, people having more free time and having more money. Like it or not, the introduction of TV gave us celebrity chefs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. And that neatly brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, allowing everyone to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Beard's Beer Batter recipe.
