Batter and Breading
Notes:
This recipe has been revised to distinguish between batter-dipped and breading-dipped. Batter usually has only an egg and liquid coating and is deep fried. An additional coat of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, or crumbled corn flakes makes a crunchier coating and can be easily baked (for those like this cook who are on a low-cholesterol diet).
Batter-dipped anything is a challenge for Planter kitchen, which is shooting for a one-size-fits-all batter for fish, chicken, and vegetables. Once this goal is reached, I will try Jalapeno Poppers. Some of the tips below may help.
This recipe is adapted from Parade Magazine. For an alternative, try Paul Prudhomme's approach for fried catfish and combine 1/2 cup each cornmeal, corn flour, and flour and blend in some Creole Seasoning for the batter mix. Many recipes marinate the chicken pieces in the refrigerator for several hours in a buttermilk mixture before dipping in batter.
One recipe for Shrimp Po' Boys tosses cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp with olive oil, rolls them in bread crumbs, salt, and pepper, and broils them in a single layer on a baking sheet for 4 minutes.
Some general rules of thumb from Joy of Cooking to make
fritter or tempura batters:
* Resting the batter for a couple hours in the refrigerator breaks down gluten before it
becomes too elastic for the coating mixture to adhere. Then it really won't stick!
Using fewer strokes when mixing also helps.
* Food and cooking surfaces, of whatever you're coating, should be dry to allow batter to
adhere.
* Egg whites should be beaten at the last minute before cooking, or coating becomes soggy.
* A general rule of thumb for baking batter-dipped fish seems to be 10-12 minutes in
a "very hot oven," or till fish flakes. (The editor is still trying to figure
out how to know when fish flakes without destroying the integrity of the batter coating.)
An author (unknown) of recipes for fried chicken from the Washington Post, 1/4/95, holds this principle sacred in both batter dipping and breading: lightly dust with flour before dipping in egg. If this important step is missed, he/she says, the breaded coating or the batter crust will roll or peel off. He also prefers soaking chicken in buttermilk or some other liquid before dipping in flour and egg.
For batter:
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cp beer
1/2 cp flour
2-3 T Tabasco sauce
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1. Sift flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Stir in beaten egg, then gradually mix in beer and flour.
3. Set aside at room temp for an hour.
4. When hour is almost up, beat egg whites and fold into batter.
5. Fry according to instructions below.
For breading:
1 cp flour
1-2 cp breaded corn flakes or bread crumbs
2 T spice mix (this cook's favorites are sage, thyme, sage, garlic poweder and black,
white, and red pepper)
1. Place flour, batter mixture and breading mixture on separate plates.
2. Dredge first in flour, then dip in batter, then dredge in corn flakes/bread crumbs.
3. Bake according to instructions below.
For baking:
Place on cookie or baking sheet, drizzle with 2 T melted butter if you're feeling decadent, and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes or til tender and no longer pink and coating is crisp and golden.
For frying:
3 T butter
3 T oil