this can be used for veggies, shrimp, etc:

3 eggs
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. curry powder or prepared cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. any seasoned salt
1/3 c. beer, drink the rest!


In large bowl, thoroughly beat the eggs, add the remaining ingredients and blend well.



1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup paremesan cheese–plain old Kraft
1 can of beer

Whisk well - cover with a cloth and let stand at room temp for at least 3 hours. Stir well, dip your veggies in to coat and fry away. Just be sure you’ve patted the veggies dry.


also - fried or deep-fried?

I love fried eggplant slices. I make them and just eat them as they are no Parmesan recipe required.

I also love Greek syle zucchini friters

grate a large zucchini, salt it and let it sit for half an hour to 45 minutes then squeeze the water out of it and put it in a large bowl with some feta cheese, chopped fresh dill, chopped green onion, black pepper an egg and enough bread crumbs to hold it all together. Then drop by rounded Tbls into hot oil and fry till golden. Serve with lemon wedges.

Another great hint when making beer-batter or any tempura-style batter for frying...

Make sure the club soda or beer if FLAT.

If the liquid still has any FIZZ left in it, it creates bubbles in the batter and it doesn't cling as tightly to your battered product (fish/chicken tenders, zucchini stixs, mushrooms, etc.) and sometimes even gets all piecy and yuchy- doesn't coat well at all.

In fact, in restaurants, when making beer batter we used to requisition several pitchers of beer on tap from the bar-tender (usually twice what we actually needed) and when he/she brought it back, we immediately drank half of the pitchers while still cold- and let the rest sit over-night in a store-room to get SUPER-FLAT, then made the tempura next morning...

I like to split a whole zucchini into quarters or sixths length-wise, rinse w/ water to moisten- dredge in seasoned flour, dip into egg-wash, then dredge in Italian-seasoned dry bread-crumbs, and deep-fry. Sprinkle w/ grated parmesan cheese-dust while still HOT and wet from the grease. YUM!

>Make sure the club soda or beer if FLAT.<

Ya know, Kevin, from the time I started cooking seriously I had heard that. And accepted it as a rule---until the first time I didn't have any flat beer.

Guess what? Not only does the carbonated liquid not have a negative effect, it can (as in the case of tempora) actually improve the batter by lightening it.

Another trick for good coatings is to utilize cornstarch or arrowroot. You can either dust it on before dipping into the batter (that's the approach I use, you may recall, on my seafood lollipops), or combine it as part of the batter. Starches gelatinize more quickly than flour, so you get a fast seal. The food is less likely to absorb grease that way.

Your tip about sprinkling with cheese while the zukes are hot is a good one. And applies to anything added to deep-fried foods. Salt, spicies, whatever should be sprinkled on as soon as the product comes out of the fryer.

And, yes, the club soda should be ice cold. Here's my tempura batter recipe:

3/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp soda
3/4-1 cup seltzer (club soda), ice cold
1 egg*

Stir dry ingedients together. Stir in egg and seltzer and beat until smooth.

*for an even lighter batter, just use an eqq white, beaten before adding to the dry ingredients.