Beer battered fish and chips

Beer battered fish and chips

It was a HAPPY day in my house when I found the plug in to my Fry-Daddy. I'd been craving something laden with homemade greasiness..no really. The fish in my freezer..Tilapia

the Skinny girl in me quietly spoke "put lemon pepper on me and broil me, I'm healthy"

..and I(the Fat girl) answered it with a resounding "Shut up! You are getting dipped in beer battered and fried!"

The Fat girl won...was there really a debate about who would?

Now...to toot my own, I'll just say..I make damn good beer battered fish. But I can't say that it's because of some hidden battering talent I have, or some penache for dropping things in 350 degree oil. No...I'll thank the beer.

Two quick notes...

1) I am allergic to alcohol. No really. I didn't use to be. I used to drink with reckless abandon, relishing that fuzzy headed buzzed feeling, and not even minding really when I'd have to throw up suddenly b/c I'd just go back to drinking...ah..to be young. But then...then I had Little Miss...when she was about meh...10 weeks old I finally decided to crawl out of my cave of a house and go have a "Congrats you had a Baby!" drink at our local bar...the bartender there..Mack (Hi Mack!) makes THE BEST White Russian eva. I'll share his recipe sometime...well..I got it..and I'm sipping on it and all of a sudden I feel HOT like someone just turned a heat lamp on my face. It got VERY uncomfortable..but it's dark in the bar so my Husband doesn't notice. We both get antsy..want to get back to the Tiny Miss and when we get in the car and Husband sees my face-"OMG what is WRONG with your face?!?!" Um..note to the men..don't EVER say that to your spouse, ok? So...I get home..take a Benadryl and it goes away. But now..if I want to have ANYTHING with alcohol in it..I have to take a Ben FIRST to avoid disaster..therefore..I don't really drink b/c it's just not fun anymore. *shrugs*

Ok..so the batter

Oil at 350...

I choose corn starch as my dredge of choice..I've just found it works for me..therefore I use it.

You want your batter to be a pancake batter consistency..so if you need more beer or less...go for it..add it in 1/2 cup increments. Also..use a whisk and wait between additions...so...flour in the pan..1/2 cup beer..whisk-whisk-whisk-check consistency, 1/2 cup beer repeat...

pat your fish dry then dredge in corn starch, place in beer batter and shake off excess, then put into oil...

shoot for a golden brown color on these like in the picture...

drain on something 'wicking'-I drained mine on a dish towel, you can do this on a brown paper sack as well.

Lightly salt when it comes out...

Now the chips...oooh the chips....on a mandoline set it to 1/32 and slice your potatoes...this is supa-thin....fry them in the same oil...season when they come out and TRY not to gorge yourself.

Just try...