Cordoba Beer-Battered Eggplant

Make the batter first. Combine the flour, beer, baking powder, paprika and minced garlic in a medium sized bowl and let it sit for an hour to bubble up. (You can add a little extra beer if necessary. It should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter.)

Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice the eggplant. Each disc should be no more than 1/3” in thickness. (A tip for peeling the eggplant: using a sharp vegetable peeler towards your body, with a gentle “zig-zagging motion” works best for the slick rind of an eggplant.)

Spread out the eggplant discs on a large cookie sheet and salt both sides. Let the salted eggplant sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse each disc well (you’ll see brown liquid forming on the eggplant as it’s drawing out bitterness and moisture.) Dry each slice of eggplant with a paper towel, before deep frying.

Preheat your oil (whether in a deep fryer or deep skillet) to medium hot. If you don’t own a deep fryer, you can certainly cook them in a deep skillet with about an inch of canola or olive oil. This takes a little fine-tuning and I usually do a couple of test slices in the oil first. When the oil is ready, the test slice should quickly bubble but not spoke.

Whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl. Put the 1/2 cup of flour in another bowl. Soak each eggplant slice in the egg and milk mixture, and then dredge it in the flour. This helps hold the batter on the eggplant. If you skip this step, the batter will just slide off and end up in clumps in the hot oil. Lastly, dip the eggplant in the batter until well coated, but not too thick. Let the excess drip off before you put it in hot oil.

The frying process takes a bit of time so I usually set a cookie sheet with a couple of layers of paper towels next to my deep fryer to place each slice there after frying. They can be kept hot in the oven at 250 F while you’re making the rest. They usually stay fairly hot even if you don’t put them in the oven, if you work fast and orderly. Put the eggplant into the fryer or skillet in a single layer (you should do this in small batches). Be sure to let the eggplant get golden brown on one side before flipping it over.

Serve hot with honey drizzled over the top. The honey really adds an extra element of amazing!