Blue Cod in Beer Batter.

[flying_spanner]

Okay I know this sin't a healthy meal and Cholesterol levels higher than Everest may result from eating food like this too often. But frankly when it tast's this damn good who cares!!!

Here's what you do.

Step 1) Go into your fridge and open a stubby of beer.

Step 2) Now open another one because after the long days diving and fishing to gather the fish for tea, that first stubby didn't even touch the sides and now you don't have enough beer to make the batter.

Step 3) Pour about a cup or so of self raising flour into a mixing bowl and sprinkle about a quarter of a cup onto a seperate saucer or dinner plate.

Step 4) Wisk in about half a stubby of beer to the flour in the mixing bowl (not the saucer it'll be too messy) make a runny batter with about the consistency or a tin of fresh paint. Feel free to wisk vigerously as all those tiny bubbles will make the batter fluffier and lighter.

Step 5) Now pick up a fillet by one end and roll it around in the flour that's on the saucer. Once the fillet has a light coating of dry flour over it's whole surface, dunk it in the mixing bowl of batter so that all the dry flour is covered. (If you don't flour the fish first the batter doesn't adhere to the meat, and will fall off turning into little more than a mess.)

Step 6) From the batter mix put the fillet straight into the deep fryer batter and all. Note that fish in general cooks quite quickly and overcooking will just dry out the flesh.

Serve with salad and fries. A bit of lemon juiced squeezed over the filletts. Thousand Island Seafood dressing works a treat too. Don't forget to wash down your meal with another beer as cooking is thirsty work!!!

I quite often will deep fry fillets like this. I'd rather clean up the mess and do the dishes myself than wait down at the local chippy for some over-cooked greasy morsel of fish that came off the boat frozen last month.

FRESH FISH THAT WAS STILL SWIMMING A FEW HOURS EARLIER HAS A TASTE ALL OF IT'S OWN.

Please note society takes a dim view of drinking beer in public places, (ie the local chippy) while wearing a neoprene suit covered in fish blood from the days activities.

It's simple really Beer + Self Raising Flour. This batter recipe can be applied to battered sausages, etc. etc. etc.

Enjoy

and let me know how you get on.

[Oldsarge]

Ah, I am fully in favor of easy. But . . . let's call it Caveman Gourmet. It sounds so much better that way.

[bgill]

Yum! I love beer battered perch with a little tartar sauce, a small salad and a hunk of rye bread! Oh...Can't forget the beer!

You're making me hungry and it's way too late to be eating!

Also come to think of it - don't have any FRESH fillets!

Well, fresh....but frozen for a few days now. (Lake Geneva rock bass)

[sunfish]

I too love to eat fish cooked this way. I like a bit of salt in the batter and cook it in a wok, rather than deep fat. It may be high in fat but at least you can choose one of the healthier oils to cook it in and can drain it on kitchen paper after cooking.