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
Historians have found proof that recipes existed back into the far past, certainly as far back into recorded history as pharonic Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. However, generally, these old cookbooks were just primitive hieroglyphic instructions for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe in existence, according to food historians is a collection of clay tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel wonderful and blissful. Progressing into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius created a few documents describing recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his scrolls, he tells us how the meals were split into starters, main course and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius informs us how the Roman cooks used many different herbs, including a few you will know for example bay, mint and parsley. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many foods, spices and herbs from Arab countries, such as basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new herbs and spices led to a torrent in manuscripts on cooking, some of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. During the following few centuries, the upper classes competed with each other to serve the best banquets, and as a consequence, cooks and their collection of recipes were at a premium. Even so, it was during the nineteenth century that cooking and recipe publications reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collating, verifying, and publishing recipes common in their social group. By the advent of the 1900s, cookery books are in high demand, due to more people being able to read, more free time and having more money to spend. Like it or not, the introduction of TV gave us cooking programs and the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes like those on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Beard's Beer Batter recipe.
