Beer Battered Mushrooms with Herbed Ranch

My husband and I have always lived near water, along one coast or the other.  And, at least along the East coast, summer means multiple visits to eating establishments that dot the shoreline, with words like Cap'n, Barnacle, Shanty, Shack or Hut somewhere in their name. When we were first married we used to go to Cap'n Franks. The Cap'n served up all the regular stuff like fried clams, shrimp, scallops and onion rings, but they also made amazing little baskets of fried mixed vegetables.  We loved them.  The small grease stained cardboard box came with onions, zucchini, eggplant, and these golden nuggets.  The mushrooms were the prizes inside every order; just biting down through the crunchy batter into the chewy juicy mushroom still puts me in a seaside mood.

What you crave during the summer months is a very personal thing, and the taste carries along with it the happy relaxed memories of the season.  Cap'n Frank's closed years ago, and since then we've moved away.  But luckily I've recently discovered that making the occasional fried food doesn't have to be a huge project. Just a few inches of vegetable oil in a small or medium saucepan works fine.  A thermometer helps, but even that's not a necessity. When you have your oil at the proper temperature, it doesn't soak into your food, and anyway, come on, you can't put a calorie count on pure bliss.

I can't get enough of this simple beer batter.  It's just flour, salt, with beer.  I love that you can really taste the beer in every crunchy bite.

When vegetable oil is on sale, I grab a couple of bottles and stash them away so I can make these on a whim.

 
Beer Battered Mushrooms
serves 4
vegetable oil for frying

• In a saucepan, add the oil to a depth of 3-4 inches.  Heat on medium heat until the temperature reaches about 350-360.

small button mushrooms, about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen

• Dust off the dirt from the mushrooms with a damp cloth.  Trim the stems, leaving a little behind.

1 cup flour
salt and fresh cracked pepper
beer

• Whisk together the flour, salt and pepper.  Add enough beer to make a batter, not too thick, not too thin, about like pancake batter.
• Drop the mushrooms in the batter and then into the hot oil.  Fry several at a time so as not to crowd the pan  or lower the temperature of the oil.
• When the mushrooms are golden, about 2-3 minutes, remove them and drain on paper towels or newspaper.

Herbed Ranch Dip
makes 1 cup
1 cup loosely packed mixed herbs (I used parsley, thyme, dill and basil)

• Finely mince the herbs either with a knife or in a small processor.  

1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1/4 cup buttermilk
juice of 1 lime (or lemon)
salt and fresh cracked black pepper

• Process or mix with the yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, and lime juice.
• Season with salt and pepper and taste to adjust.   Refrigerate until needed.

Notes:  Be sure you use smallish mushrooms, otherwise they won't cook through in the oil.  If you have large ones, halve them.  These reheat beautifully in the oven, just heat them through in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, they'll crisp up nicely.

I admit it, I've made a few other fried goodies recently, here's a few:

Fried Green Beans with Lime Aioli Dipping Sauce   

Chicken Pakora with Plum Chutney 

Spinach and Onion Pakora with Green Chutney