beer Archives - The Midnight Baker

Jumbo Beer Battered Fried Shrimp

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 19 Jan 2020 00:00:22 +0000

Watch these beer battered jumbo fried shrimp disappear quickly with your football watching friends!

Fried Shrimp At It’s Best

There aren’t many people who will turn down fried shrimp! That is if you are not allergic or have religious dietary restrictions.

Me? I’ll take shrimp any way you give it to me. It’s by far my favorite seafood.

Shrimp is on sale an awful lot lately. I’ve scored some crazy low prices on them too. Last sale, one of my stores had colossal jumbo shrimp on sale with all the other sizes. Couldn’t pass that up and I wanted to do these beauties justice. What better way than good old authentic batter dipped fried shrimp–and a batter made with beer!

Batter

The batter for these shrimp contains beer. And since beer contains yeast, it acts as a leavening agent of sorts. It doesn’t really “rise” per se. It just incorporates a bit of air so the fried shrimp get a bit crispier.

The general formula is an equal amount of beer to flour, however, atmospheric conditions always play a big role in anything with flour. Same goes with high altitude, but with this recipe, altitude plays an insignificant role. Getting the proper texture is the main thing here. The texture should be like a thick pancake or crepe batter.

Standing is important too because of the fermentation. I find 15 minute to a half an hour works pretty well. And remember to let the excess batter drip back into the bowl. You don’t want an overly bready shrimp since it detracts from the mild taste of the shrimp.

Method

This beer batter shrimp recipe is made for deep frying. You need no special equipment for it; just a frying pan that has deeper sides, such as a cast-iron pan which is perfect, and one that conducts heat well.

If you have a deep fat fryer, that’s a great way to cook these shrimp. The temperature is easy to regulate and there’s actually less mess with it.

This recipe is NOT made for air fryers. Battered food does not work well in those appliances. You’ll end up with an inedible mess. Likewise baking is not recommended. So if you have a problem with deep fat frying, a recipe that uses crumbs for a coating is better suited.

The Recipe

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Beer Batter Fried Shrimp

A real treat when made with colossal-sized shrimp

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Batter Standing Time30

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beer batter for fish, beer batter shrimp recipe, fried shrimp, super bowl party

Servings: 4

Calories: 267kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 lb extra-large shrimp peeled and deveined
extra flour for dusting shrimp
Oil for frying.

Batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour
12 oz can lager beer
2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix flour, Old Bay, salt & pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk in 8 oz (1 cup) of the beer. Batter varies by atmospheric conditions, so you may need more beer to thin batter to the consistency of a slightly thick pancake batter. Let batter stand for 15 minutes. Thin batter if necessary using additional beer.
Heat about 1-2 inches/2.5-5 cm oil in a deep large skillet to 350F/180C. You could also use a deep-fat fryer if you have one. This recipe is NOT recommended for air fryers.
Dry shrimp thoroughly. Dust lightly with flour.
Dip shrimp in batter and carefully add to hot oil—do not crowd the pan!!!
Fry 2 minutes then turn and fry an additional 2 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and keep warm in a 200F/100C oven while frying additional batches.
Serve with coleslaw https://bakeatmidnite.com/kicked-up-cole-slaw/

Nutrition

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Slow Cooker Beer Can Chicken

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 00:00:40 +0000

Everyone will love this slow cooker beer can chicken and so will you because it’s so easy!

Beer Can Chicken: Adapted For Slow Cooker

Beer can chicken is usually made on an outdoor’s grill due to its potential messiness. Therefore, it’s been a good-weather treat.

The same effect can be achieved in your slow cooker too! Since the beer acts more or less as a basting medium that infuses a flavor, the slow cooker is the perfect appliance to get almost the same results.

By using your crock pot, you can enjoy this treat year round.

Some Like It Hot

This rub can be anywhere from mild to super hot depending on the amounts of two ingredients.

The main heat-generating ingredient is cayenne pepper. Unless you know that everyone you’re serving is into 5-alarm heat, go with the lesser amount of this ingredient when you prepare the rub.

Next up is paprika. Sure you can use the generic variety found on most supermarket shelves, but this chicken will taste better if you use a smoked variety paprika. Smoked paprika comes either mild or hot. If you use the hot, you are going to add more heat on top of the cayenne, so choose wisely. I used the mild smoked variety here and as I mentioned before, I’d advise you to do so as well, unless, of course, you’re into big-time heat.

If you can’t find the more gourmet paprikas in your store, then the generic variety will do, but make sure it’s fresh otherwise it will have no flavor at all.

Now For The Beer

The choice of beer of course, is up to you.

The original recipe called for dark beer. Sometimes this is only available in the fall, but in larger cities, it should be available year round. Dark beer is not Guiness, although Guiness would probably produce an interesting flavor. If you’re willing to spend extra on a craft beer, then dark beer wouldn’t be difficult to find. I’ve heard it said about beer (and wine) that if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it. I’m not that much of a connoisseur to be honest and I used an el cheapo lager for this and the chicken tasted fine.

The Recipe

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Slow Cooker Beer Can Chicken

Everyone will love this slow cooker beer can chicken and so will you because it’s so easy to make!

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Total Time8 10

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beer can chicken, slow cooker chicken, slow cooker recipes

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 693kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

5-6 lb whole chicken
2 tbs smoked paprika I used mild
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp tarragon
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or up to 1 tsp, depending on your preference
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tbs butter softened
12 oz dark beer or lager

Instructions

Make 4 balls of aluminum foil (about 2-inches in diameter each)
Place bunched rolls of foil in bottom of 6-quart slow cooker and pour in beer.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Pull skin gently away from bird. Mix all dry seasonings together.
Mix 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning blend into butter.
Spread butter mixture under skin of chicken.
With clean dry hands, rub remaining spice blend onto chicken skin.
Place chicken on top of foil balls in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low on 7-8 hours. Check the temperature - chicken is done when the temperature is 165-170 in the thickest part of the thigh. Continue to cook if needed.

Nutrition

*Adapted from Cook Top Cove

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Slow Cooker Cream & Ale Short Ribs

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Slow Cooker Cream & Ale Short Ribs

These tender juicy beef short ribs and savory creamy ale sauce cooks easily in your slow cooker.

This is a perfect mid-winter dinner!

I love cooking with beers and ales especially with beef. The flavor compliments it so nicely and there’s something so “English Pub” about it.

Since I always seem to be able to get short ribs reduced on the final day of sale at a local grocery store, I have quite a lot of them in my freezer.

Soul and body-warming meal

It’s been horribly cold the past couple of days (can you say nighttime temps below zero and daytime temps in the single digits?) here in upstate New York and I wanted to make a dinner that not only warmed my soul but my body as well!

I had a few bottles of ale kicking around from a promotional post I did for the holidays and what better way to put one of those bottles to use! If you don’t have ale, plain old beer–and it doesn’t have to be a snob beer–it can be the cheapest one you can find, will do in place of the ale. I merely used what I had.

I used my newest slow cooker, the casserole crock, to make these. I noticed that I had to cook them longer than I usually cook short ribs in a conventional slow cooker. It probably has to do with the fact that this is a much shallower cooking area than a conventional 5-6 quart model, so if you use the casserole crock, plan on at least 10 hours on low if you want it to fall off the bone. If not, then 8 hours will probably do you nicely.

I added a can of whole white potatoes to mine in the last hour of cooking. With ultra-long cooking times, I prefer to use canned so they don’t overcook and get mushy. But adding veggies or potatoes isn’t necessary here. These would be nice served with mashed potatoes or even nice thick steak fries.

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Slow Cooker Cream & Ale Short Ribs

These tender juicy beef short ribs and savory creamy ale sauce cooks easily in your slow cooker

Prep Time15

Cook Time8

Total Time8 15

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, Slow Cooker

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beef short ribs

Servings: 4

Calories: 755kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4-6 lbs meaty beef short ribs
1 pkg au jus gravy mix
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup water
12 oz bottle of ale or beer
1 small onion sliced
1 clove garlic minced
1 tbsp oil for browning
1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

Mix au jus gravy mix, flour, thyme and brown sugar in a small bowl, making sure to get any lumps out of the brown sugar. Place into a 4-6 quart slow cooker. FYI–I used a 3.5 quart casserole crock to make this. Add the ale and stir well to combine.
Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and brown short ribs on all sides. Remove to a plate.
In the same pan, saute the sliced onion and garlic, stirring constantly, for about 3-5 minutes–don’t let it burn.
Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup water; mix the onions and water into the au jus mixture in the slow cooker.
Place the short ribs in the slow cooker, cover and cook on HI 4-6 hours or LOW 8-10 hours (times are approximate). If using the casserole crock, please read the above post–it will probably take longer in one of those.
Remove the ribs to a serving plate. Stir in the heavy cream, combining well. Pour gravy over short ribs.
Serves about 4 people (I had 8 short ribs and allowed 2 meaty ribs per person).

Nutrition

Slow Cooker Cream & Ale Short Ribs

Follow The Midnight Baker’s board ☆☆Super Bowl Parties☆☆ on Pinterest.

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Sweet-n-Sticky Boneless BBQ Ribs

Judith Hannemann — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Sweet-n-Sticky Boneless BBQ Ribs

Oooey and gooey sweet sauce with a hint of tangy. There’s several surprises here. How they’re made and a secret ingredient. It’s also easy: made in one-pot and you set it and forget it until it’s done.

Last week my grocery store had boneless country-style ribs on sale buy one get one. Couldn’t pass that up since I love pork? Did I ever mention that? Well, I do.

You can, of course, do this with bone-in baby back ribs too. I wouldn’t advise regular spare ribs mainly due to the method of cooking–a rice cooker. Unless you have a super-size rice cooker, regular belly ribs just will not fit.

The beauty of a rice cooker is it cooks by reduction. That’s how you get this marvelous sauce and the other benefit is, it’s a one-pot meal. Since most rice cookers come with a steaming basket that fits in the pot, you can cook your veggies in the last minutes of the cook time for the ribs.

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Sweet-n-Sticky Boneless BBQ Ribs

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 40

Course: Pork

Cuisine: American

Keyword: BBQ Ribs, pork ribs

Servings: 4

Calories: 658kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless country-style or baby back pork ribs
12 oz can of beer OR 12 oz chicken stock
1 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup pancake syrup

Instructions

Brown ribs either in a large skillet or by placing under the broiler for a few minutes.
Add ribs and remaining ingredients to a 7- or 10-cup rice cooker. Stir.
Set rice cooker to "COOK" and check ribs every 30 minutes. Theoretically, when the cooker switches to "WARM" the ribs are done and the sauce is reduced to a sticky syrupy conistency. Your rice cooker may cook differently than mine, hence, it's a good idea to check the progress periodically.

Nutrition

Sweet-n-Sticky Boneless BBQ Ribs

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