Fried Shrimp For Dinner

My family didn't eat out at restaurants very often when I was a kid. My mom has always been a great cook, and when she didn't feel like cooking we'd get takeout from our local Chinese restaurant or order a pizza. The extra special restaurant experiences were usually reserved for birthdays and other celebrations, like the times I'd go shopping solo with my mom and we'd cap our adventure over French onion soup and asparagus omelets at Le Crepe in the Monmouth Mall, or when we'd have a dress up family Sunday dinner in the Grill Room at the club. But every now and then we'd hit Howard Johnson's for dinner, and it was my favorite. Everyone had their personal preferences there - my sister would get spaghetti and meatballs, my grandmother, any ice cream delight covered with nuts (once she wasn't wearing her glasses and tried to order a dried flower arrangement off the paper placemat - she thought it looked like a "luscious" nutty sundae), and I always went for the same two things - turkey with mashed potatoes or fried fish/shrimp and chips. Heavily coated in a crispy, golden beer batter, the fried seafood always hit the spot, and (like the turkey with mashed potatoes, which my still mother detests) was something we'd only have occasionally at home.

Beer Battered Shrimp with Homemade Tartar Sauce

There is just something so fun about eating fried shrimp. Whether you pick it up by the tail and just go for it, or use a knife and fork, dipping fried seafood into creamy, pickley tartar sauce makes for sublime meal. The best shrimp for the task are the big ones - usually marked as 16/20 or extra jumbo in the case. This means that you'll get between 16-20 shrimp in a pound. Be sure to completely clean and devein the shrimp, but keep tails on, then pat dry before beginning the batter/frying process. You can determine how thickly you'd like your shrimp coated by either going straight from the batter to the oil (thick coating) or by scraping the shrimp against the bowl after battering to remove a little bit (thinner coating).

GBD - Golden brown & delicious

It is imperative that your oil be the correct temperature - right around 350 degrees. If you have a candy thermometer that clips to the side of a pot, you can expertly track the temp, but if not, setting your stove to between medium-medium high should do the trick. Be sure to heat the oil for a few minutes before frying to ensure it is up to temp. You can drop a little batter into the oil to test - if it immediately starts to fry and rise to the top, your oil is ready. If it sinks to the bottom the oil is too cool. If it starts to burn the oil is too hot. You can also use this batter for fish (cod is the best) and even onion rings.

Beer Battered Shrimp (makes two pounds of 16/20 shrimp)

Ingredients:

2 lbs extra jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup beer (I used Blue Moon)

1 egg

1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

Oil for frying (canola, vegetable or peanut)

Method:

Heat enough oil in a high sided pot, to completely cover the shrimp, to 350 degrees. While oil heats, pat shrimp dry. Make the batter: mix flour, salt, pepper and baking powder in a bowl. In a measuring cup, mix beer, egg and oil, then add to the dry mixture. Whisk to combine, trying to eliminate any lumps. When oil is ready, hold each shrimp by the tail and coat completely in batter. Add to hot oil. Fry about six shrimp at a time as not to bring down the oil temp. Fry just a minute or two on each side until golden brown and floating on top of oil. Remove with a slotted spoon or strainer and drain on a paper towel. Season immediately with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

The perfect dip for fried seafood - tartar sauce

Homemade Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (we use Best Foods but also love Duke's)

1 tbsp diced dill pickles or cornichons

1 tbsp sweet pickle relish or diced sweet pickles

1 tbsp capers

2 tsp apple cider vinegar (can sub white or white wine vinegar)

1 tsp whole grain mustard

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:

Mix everything together and refrigerate before serving. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week.