Beer Battered Halibut

I have tried several times over the years to deep fry various foods. ALL of those attempts have resulted in horrendous failure. I am not one to give up though - and I really wanted to make fish and chips at home - so I invested $2 in a candy thermometer to help me get the precise temperature. That was the ticket!

Then, I went online and found this awesome recipe on Allrecipes - and made a few adjustments...

Beer Battered Halibut

*6 - 8 Halibut steaks (you want to cut them down so they are about 2" wide)

2 quarts vegetable oil for frying

3 eggs
3/4 cup beer (can substitute beef or chicken stock)
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups flour + more for dredging
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Mix in beer. Use your hand mixer to blend well - you don't want any lumps. Season with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

In an deep fryer or a heavy saucepan, heat oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Dredge fillets in egg mix (to help the batter stick). Coat fish in batter, and fry in hot oil. I had about an inch of oil in my dutch oven (waaay safer) and I just flippped them over after about 3 minutes a side - you'll be able to see that they've browned.

When you pull them out of the oil - set them on a brown paper bag (or paper towels) to de-grease them a bit)

This batter was so amazing. Your natural tendency may be to put on a really thick layer of batter - but resist! Just give it a nice thin coat and they'll turn out perfect!

*about 1 1/2 lbs - you can substitute any white fleshed fish