Happy Friday. Labour Day is Monday, so that means it’s a long weekend for us Canadian folks… woot!

As I start to plan meals for this weekend at the trailer, I thought I would share my favorite beer batter cod recipe. I am not a fish lover at all, but I will happily eat this. So delicious.

Beer Battered Cod

• 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour (reserving 1/4 cup for dusting)
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 350 ml bottle (or can) of beer of your choice (except IPA)
• 2 oz vodka
• 2 lbs of cod fillets

Instructions

In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients with a whisk (don’t forget to keep ¼ cup of the flour for dusting).   Add the beer and vodka and whisk together, but do not over-mix.  Some lumps are fine.  Keep the batter in the fridge until ready to use.

Dry off excess moisture from the fish by patting it with a paper towel.  The batter won’t stick to wet fish.  Cut the fillets into serving size pieces, season both sides of the fish with a little salt and pepper, then dust lightly with some of your reserved flour, shaking off the excess.

In a large pot/skillet/wok/deep fryer,  heat 2-3 inches of oil to 360 F degrees F.

Dip the fish in the batter just before frying, the lower in the pre heated oil.  Do not over crowd the fish in the pot.

Cook until crispy and golden brown, turning only once.  It should take approximately 12-14 minutes in total to cook each piece.

Remove the fried fish from the oil and put it onto a grate over a cookie sheet to allow the excess oil to drain off.

Keep warm in a low heat oven until you’re ready to eat.

Some ingredient notes:

• Use an oil with a high smoke point such as canola oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil , sunflower seed oil or peanut oil.  Sunflower seed and avocado oil are my preferences.
• Avoid using an IPA beer.  The alcohol from the beer will burn off, however, since cod is a very mild flavoured fish, IPA beer will make the batter bitter and that’s all you will taste.
• Vodka is optional and won’t change the flavour, but because of its higher alcohol content, it burns off quickly in the oil and makes the batter even crispier.
• If you prefer, you can substitute the salt and pepper and paprika for some old bay seasoning or you can use that to season the fish prior to dusting it.

Enjoy xo

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Tags: dinner, fish, food, recipe, recipes