Beer Battered Mushrooms with Herbed Ranch
These Beer Battered Mushrooms with Herbed Ranch Dip are crispy on the outside, and insanely juicy on the inside...they're in my top ten appetizers of all time!
Servings: 10 servings
Equipment
- heavy pot or saucepan, or a deep fryer
Ingredients
fried mushrooms
- vegetable oil for frying
- 2 pints small button mushrooms, trimmed and halved if large.
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp each salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- 12 ounces beer, your choice. Note: you may not need the entire 12 ounces.
Herbed Ranch Dip
- 1 cup loosely packed mixed herbs I used parsley, thyme, dill and basil
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- juice of 1 lime or lemon
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add the oil to a depth of 3-4 inches. Heat on medium heat until the temperature reaches about 350F. A thermometer is a big help here. Note: If using a deep fryer, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Set the machine to 350F.
- Dust off the dirt from the mushrooms with a damp cloth. Trim the stems, leaving a little behind. Leave small mushrooms whole, but cut larger ones in half, so everything is more or less similar in size.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and pepper. Add enough beer to make a batter, not too thick, not too thin ~ about like pancake batter.
- Drop the mushrooms in the batter, making sure to cover all surfaces, and then let the excess drip off a bit before dropping them into the hot oil. Fry several at a time so as not to crowd the pan, which can lower the temperature of the oil.
- When the mushrooms are nice and golden all over, about 2-4 minutes, remove them and drain on paper towels or newspaper.
- To make the dip, finely mince the herbs either with a knife or in a small processor.
- Process or mix with the yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, and lime juice.
- Season with salt and pepper, and make sure to taste the dressing and adjust as necessary. Refrigerate until needed. Feel free to make this ahead of time, the flavors will mingle and improve with a few hours in the fridge.