I have been playing with batters for several days now. Here's one I love
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs beaten
12 ounces beer (you can use non-alcoholic beer)
1 tablespoon salt (you can use more or less remember recipes are starting points)
1 / 2 tablespoon pepper
Method
Sift flour into large mixing bowl; add eggs, beer, salt and pepper. Wisk until batter is smooth. Note: I use beer but I don't want to call the beer batter. Here is why. If you want to deep fry sliced fruit, use juice in place of beer, also add about a 1 / 4 cup of sugar. Also you can spice it up by adding chilies and other spices when you add you salt and pepper. Remember, if frying a sweet item, leave out the pepper!
Fried Scallops
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 / 2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 / 2 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
1 cup beer
1 / 2 cup flour
2 pounds scallops
oil for frying 2 to 4 cups
Method
Sift the first four ingredients into large mixing bowl. Beat in egg, add beer and wisk until smooth. Heat oil in a fryer or large skillet to 350 degrees. Roll scallops in the 1 / 2 cup of flour, shake off excess flour, the dip into batter place in fryer, fry until nicely brown. Don't over cook. Scallops should only take 3 to 4 minutes and are great as appetizers or as the main dish with a couple of sides!
Thank you to those who have written to say you enjoyed or learned from the last Recipes For Life, and I hope you are looking forward to more down home cooking methods. Last time I said frying food is fun and simple, but not easy. Easier methods of cooking, I feel, are baking and boiling. Several of my pastry chef associates correctly pointed out once you get the item into oven, baking becomes easy; however the overall process of baking is not. I did not intend to offend any chef or home cook. I just want my friends (you readers) to try cooking the first method I learned for my mom.
Back to frying: my son asked, "Dad, why don't you buy a deep fryer?" So that week I went shopping, stopped at all the Marts - Wal, K, the Pos, Home and Kitchen and the super warehouse stores. The best price I found for a deep fryer was $39.95 made by GE. I was all set the make the purchase. Then I thought back to Mom's kitchen. Her deep fryer was a large pot. Why spend over $40 with taxes and all? You can buy a load of oil for that! So I say, and am sure mom will agree, if you have a big pot, you have a deep fryer. My advice, buy a thermometer and use the big pot to deep fry.
Please keep sending me your questions and comments to me at
www.curtisaikens.com. I love them.
