It's Not Mrs Paul's

Batter Up!

I have been frying (yeah, you know, like DEEP FRYING) food for 50+ years and, by and large, I think the hoopla about fried food is exaggerated — if you do it right! I recently came across a batter recipe that sounded intriguing in a book called Recipes From A Spanish Village.

It is the lightest, most flavorful frying batter I have ever used. Plus, to my mind, it is pretty healthy. The other night, for example, I fried two pounds of shrimp, two octopus tentacles, and a filet of cod. We had a net loss of less than four tablespoons olive oil — and that was for three people. That is 130 calories per person — less than a puny sized martini. Try it. My only modification to their recipe is to use Wondra flour which has a nuttiness to its taste that I like.

Recipe: Combine 100 grams (3/4 cup) Wondra flour with a pinch of salt. Gradually work in 3 Tbls. olive (or other) oil and 6 fl. oz. water. Work to a paste and then a smooth batter. Add a pinch of cayenne if you wish. When ready to fry, whisk an egg white to soft peaks and fold in. Heat olive (or peanut) oil to 350 degrees and fry baby, fry.

It’s not Mrs. Paul’s