Well Since The Fryer Is Out. . .

Supper, Friday November 2, 2018: Fried oysters; fried taters; fried zucchini; fried mushrooms.

Sure that is a lot of fried food, but remember "everything in moderation including moderation." Live a little now and then. 

Lemme talk about breading. 

I'm persnickety about breading. 

1. My first rule is season the food not the breading. I want to have seasoned bread I will just get some herbs in olive oil and dip some crusty french pieces.
2. Flour the food. Coat the product, whatever it is, with plain flour. This is important because it gives the wash something to cling to.
3. Make sure the product is thoroughly coated in the wash. I like to use a wash that is half egg and half buttermilk. Some like one or the other. That's OK. There is one little quirk to my choice. When blending the egg and buttermilk together the egg often starts to gel. I think it's a ph thing. Whatever the cause it is reversed by adding just a little bit of water, an ounce or two depending on the amount of wash.
4. To transfer the washed food to the crumbs I like to handle as little as possible. If is is a large item like a piece of fish or a slab of green tomato I use a bamboo skewer. If it is a bunch of smaller things I use a spider.
5. Coat the food well by rolling and packing it into the crumb mixture. I like a 1:3 mix of flour and breadcrumbs. This is where I get really crazy. Plain breadcrumbs from the store are OK but they are too dense. The alternative then is panko, but I find it to be too greasy. So I literally bake french bread slice it dehydrate it and grind it in the food processor. The end result is crumbs that are a mix of sizes and shapes. A good second best is to buy day old french loaves at the grocery, slice them and let them dry out for a couple of days. finish them in a warm oven, 175 or so, then process.

That is why those mushrooms in the picture look like they are high end pre-breaded frozen.