Beer Battered Fish

As a child some of my earliest memories are going fishing at the river.  By the time I was 2 years old I was holding my own fishing pole.  Over the years we camped and fished often and I only have to think about beer battered fish to taste it in my memory. 

As I got to be a teenager I lost interest in fishing and soon was married and off on a life of my own that rarely, if ever includes fishing.  As a matter of fact I think the last time I camped, fished and had beer batter fish I caught on my own was an extended family camping trip to Canada when I was pregnant with our third child.  Funny though, I can still taste the beer battered Walleye I had on that trip. 

About once a year I make beer battered fish for our family, although it's usually with fish I've 'caught' in the seafood aisle of my local grocery.  It's quick and easy to make and if you have beer already on hand, use what you have.  It's really good with a heavy, dark beer like Guinness but any beer will do.

Beer Battered Fish

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup heavy beer

Oil for frying
Fish fillets
Flour

In a bowl, sift the flour and salt. Add the egg and whisk to blend. Slowly add the beer while continuing to whisk until all the beer is added.

Heat the oil in the pan, about a third of the way up the side.

Wash the fish under cold water and roll in the flour to coat. Dip the fish pieces, one at a time into the batter and drop into the oil.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel.  Serve immediately plain, or with vinegar and oil or tartar sauce.

Thank Goodness for Hotel Coffee Makers and Ramen

My regular readers might recall I'm traveling this week.

Our family has been transferred to a new state and are in the middle of relocating 1000 miles away.   We were blessed to get an offer on our current home so after trying for 3 weeks to get away and get to the 'new' city and state, I finally could not put it off any longer and left last weekend to travel to where my husband and 1 daughter have been living for the last few months, and go house hunting this week.

Our family travels by car a lot.  We rarely fly (who can afford it when you have a family of five?) So making a 15 hour solo drive across the country, I decided to do something I normally never do.  I made the decision to make it more 'leisurely' by only driving 10 hours the first day, stopping for the night and then continuing the rest of the way in the morning. 

Stopping only for gas twice and a quick bathroom break once; I munched on a peach and a banana on the way and drank the bottled waters I had brought with me.  I arrived in Tennessee and got settled into my hotel room around 7:pm and realized...  I was hungry.  Very hungry.

The last thing I wanted to do was get back into my vehicle to drive somewhere and pick up fast food.  I had no cash on me (only a debit card and credit card) so I didn't want to order pizza delivery, and although there was 1 full serve restaurant within walking distance of my hotel, I really didn't want to make eating that big of a deal nor do I like eating solo in large, busy restaurants.

Then I remembered;  I had slipped a package of Spicy Hot Ramen Noodles into my computer laptop bag!  It was a spur of the moment decision at the time, but I the packages are thin and easy to tote and I had put one in there, although at the time I didn't know why I did.  It was just a random thing I did at the time.

Then I laughed at myself.

I had Ramen but I had no bowl.  No fork.  But wait!  I had a coffeemaker a styrofoam cups in my hotel bathroom!  Bingo.

I broke the Ramen into quarters (the cups are small), added some of the Spicy Hot flavor packet and brewed a cup using the hot water from the coffeemaker by not adding a coffee packet.  I sipped it as soup and it was... delicious!

Hot and spicy.  Filling.  Just what I needed at the end of a long day having only had fresh fruit. 

Just as I keep an extra pair of flip flops in my truck, I guess I may just have to keep an extra package of Spicy Ramen in my laptop bag!

Bavarian Spiced Baby Potatoes

Covered in olive oil, Bavarian Spice Mix, Rosemary and Thyme

Yesterday I had a bag of petite Klondike Gold Dust buttery yellow potatoes that I needed to use up.  I pulled out an electric dutch oven, put in some water, the potatoes, turned it on and boiled them while I decided how I wanted to make them.

One favorite is to partially cook them, then grill with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper and olive oil.  As I opened the cupboard to get the rosemary and thyme I saw my container of Penzey's Bavarian Spice mix.   Originally I bought it for use on chicken but opening it and smelling the aroma of the spice mixture, I knew it would be wonderful on my potatoes as well.  Time to play with my food and see what I get!  It was... delicious!


Bavarian Spiced Baby Potatoes

Petite baby potatoes (come by Klondike in 1.5 lbs. bags - enough for 4 people)
2 t fresh minced garlic
olive oil - about 2 tablespoons - more for cook time
Salt and pepper to taste
Penzey's Bavarian Spice mix - about 2 teaspoons
Rosemary (fresh or dried) to taste (about 1 t)
Thyme (fresh or dried) to taste (about 1 t)

Pre-boil the potatoes.  Drain.  In a bowl mix the oil with the potatoes (you can cut the larger ones in half) and add all the spices.  Mix until well coated.   I like lots of flavor on my potatoes but if you like your foods a little more bland, go lighter on the spices and taste and adjust accordingly.  Cook in a pan or skillet over medium high heat until golden or my favorite - over a grilling rack on the grill.  About 3 minutes before you are going to remove them from heat, add the garlic, stir till the garlic is golden as well but don't let it burn.  You can add more oil during any time in the cooking process if it's used up.

Just starting to cook the seasoned baby potatoes

Thick Sugar Cookies Like Lofthouse

My posts might be fewer during this crazy time of selling, house hunting, relocating; but my goal is to update as much as possible. Yesterday however, I ate more like a college student than a Mom! I even had hot spicy chili flavored Ramen noodles for lunch. Shhh!

This morning I'm sipping coffee now, but in 45 minutes my world gets busy. My parents coming to switch vehicles, the roofer coming with a truck load of building supplies for a new roof this week, relocation company is supposed to contact me regarding details and the loan 'guy' for the pre-approval paperwork.

I feel a little bad so as I looked through my files this morning I saw a recipe for a faux Lofthouse style Cookie with thick frosting and I knew I could post it as a "I'm sorry I'm so busy right now but here is a cookie!" offering to my readers.

Let me be the first to say that Lofthouse cookies on their own... aren't that great. If you scrape the icing off, you are left with a really thick, floury, dry cookie. It's the oh-so-thick brightly colored frosting that makes them taste good as it gives flavor and moisture to the cookie. So make sure you have plenty of flour on hand, don't over bake the cookie (they should not be browned at all) and do not attempt to eat with mounds of frosting or you'll be left with a lackluster, dry, floury vanilla cookie.




Cookies (similar to Lofthouse)

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and vanilla.Mix in baking soda, baking powder and enough flour to create a consistency for rolling. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out dough to a 1/4-to 3/8-inch thickness using a generous amount of flour. Cut out shapes and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes. Cook on a wire rack. Frost and decorate as desired.



Frosting

1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. Shortening
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

Blend the butter, shortening, egg whites, and flavorings together in a mixer for 1 minutes. Add 1/2 the sugar and gently start to mix, then mix on high for 1 minute until smooth. Add the remainder of the sugar. Gradually increase your mixer volume to high as the sugar blends in. Beat on high for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides once during mix time. Use to frost cookies and sprinkle if desired.

Spinach Artichoke Dip with Fresh Spinach

When I make this dip I make it 'a little different' every time based on whatever I happen to have on hand.  Remember what I always say;  recipes are a guideline but play with your food!  Don't be afraid to add or delete based on what you have or what you like or don't like (within reason of course!)

Looking in my cupboards and refrigerator I pulled out some basic ingredients and this is what I came up with!

Spinach Artichoke Dip with Fresh Spinach


1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c mayonnaise
4 oz. cream cheese (you could use all 8 oz. if you want)
1/2 c fresh shredded parmesan
1 c shredded mozzarella
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 t minced garlic
4-5 artichoke hearts, barely chopped
1 large handful clean, loose fresh spinach leaves (maybe 2 cups if you were to have to measure)

Chop the spinach leaves and add to everything else in a lightly sprayed or greased casserole dish. Bake at 325 or 350 for about 20-25 minutes until heated through. You can also microwave it if you wish. You can always microwave and then put it under the broiler for 2 minutes to give it a bubbly golden 'finished' look on top. The finished photo above is what it looks like if you microwave it and do not finish under the broiler as it stays 'white' since the cheese does not brown. You could also put this in the crock pot. Serves well with tortilla chips and pita chips.