Beer Batter for Halibut, Cod or Haddock... and Tartar Sauce

 I was surfing TV channels, trying to find something to watch that didn't involve a murder/serial killer/autopsy or unpleasant people living in a house together competing for the "love" of someone no one else would want to date.

 I ended up watching a re-run of Chef at Home, about chef Michael Smith at home, making beer-battered halibut. For a week afterward, I craved fish and chips, the old-fashioned kind my grandmother used to buy from a long-gone fish and chip store on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. The crispy fried halibut used to come wrapped in paper. 

A search for battered halibut turned up an online recipe from the Caledon Golf and Country Club in the Caledon Hills of Ontario, whose chef is also named Mike. I used the golf club's recipe--the fish was delicious. I've printed the recipe below in case the golf club deletes it from its site.

My mom once used a beer batter to coat thick slices of Spanish onion for home-made fried onion rings. They were the best onion rings I've ever had. But if you're going to double the beer batter recipe and make onion rings too, divide the batter in two separate bowls.

If you click on the Chef at Home link above, you'll find Michael Smith's beer batter recipe. It's a little different; he adds corn starch. There's also a recipe for home-made tartar sauce.

Both recipes suggest you use a deep-fryer, but I didn't have enough oil so I fried the fish in a deep, teflon-coated fry pan. I dropped a dab of batter into the oil and when it began to sizzle, the oil was hot enough.

When using a fry pan, you have to turn the fish. The pieces of halibut I used were quite thick, so I fried them 7 minutes each side, turning the pieces with tongs when one side looked golden and crispy. The recipe below coated 3 big pieces of fish with a little left-over. If you have a lot of fish to fry you might need to make more batter. 

Caledon Golf Club Crispy Beer-Battered Fish

Whisk:

• 1 cup lager beer
• 1 egg

Stir together:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• dash of fresh ground pepper (to taste)

Stir the liquids into the flour mixture, combine all ingredients.
The consistency should be slightly thicker than heavy cream.

In a separate shallow bowl, measure:

• 1/2 cup flour 

To fry fish, take a 6-8 oz. portion of haddock and slice vertically down the middle.
Dredge each piece of fish in flour (necessary for the batter to stick).
Then dip in the batter to coat.
Allow excess batter to drip off before carefully placing in hot oil (350 degrees F.)

This recipe specifies melted shortening for the oil, I used vegetable oil.
Fry approxiately 8-10 minutes till golden and crispy.

Simple Tartar Sauce (Mayonnaise Plus Relish)

• 1 egg yolk
• canola oil
• lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp prepared relish (or a chopped, sour dill pickle)

With an electric mixer or by hand, whisk the egg yolk while slowly--drop by drop-- adding just enough oil to make a creamy mixture (about 1/2 cup oil per egg yolk.) 

Once you add the relish or chopped pickle to the mayonnaise, you have tartar sauce.

 Experiment with making a zippier tartar sauce by adding cajun spices, garlic powder or garlic salt, fresh green onion, capers, hot sauce, chopped peppers.

Short-cut Tartar Sauce: Whisk prepared relish into prepared mayonnaise like Hellmans, add spices if desired.