Eggplant Fried in Beer Batter

This recipe produced a wonderful Mothers’ Day dinner for me, created by my daughter Omara. The eggplant had a crisp texture and luscious flavor!

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium globe eggplants
• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 2 c beer*
• 2 tsp Mediterranean oregano
• zest of 1 lemons
• 1 T salt (plus salt for sweating the eggplant)
• 2-3 c vegetable oil
• 4 c marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Peel the eggplants and cut them crosswise, in quarter-inch slices.
2. Line a baking sheet(s) with clean toweling, and lay the sliced eggplant on top. Sprinkle with about a teaspoon of salt. Turn slices over and sprinkle with another teaspoon of salt. Cover with another towel and allow to stand and “sweat out” the bitter juices for about 30 minutes.
3. Wipe each slice carefully, removing much of the salt and drying it.
4. In a large bowl, blend the flour, beer, oregano, lemon zest and salt. Mix until well-incorporated.
5. Heat the oil in a heavy pot until it is about 360 degrees F.
6. Pour the batter into a shallow dish (A pie plate works well.); Dip each eggplant slice in the batter before frying it in batches of 3 or 4. Fry about 45-60 seconds on each side. Remove to a strainer to drain off oil or to paper towels.
7. Heat the marinara sauce and ladle it on each portion of fried eggplant. If desired sprinkle some grated Romano or Parmesan cheese on top.

*Omara recommends an IPA beer for this recipe. She used Sculpin IPA.