Fry Made in America (by a union) for Labor Day

It's not too late to run to that union grocery store (um, that excludes Wal-mart, folks) for some Labor Day picnic food. Think about baking or cooking with union-made ingredients.

Our brothers and sisters at UFCW have a Pinterest board that can help you find union recipes. As Teamsters, we're partial to the Teamster-made beer-battered fried chicken recipe. We're not sure French toast is the best use of UFCW-made Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, but we definitely see a role for UFCW-made Hebrew National hot dogs at our barbecue!

Here's the recipe for beer-battered fried chicken (ignore comments about using "any beer"):

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
2 beaten eggs
12 ounces of Budweiser beer
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of Louisiana hot sauce
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
Oil for frying 

Directions:

• Preheat deep fryer to 365'.
• In a large mixing bowl add the can or bottle of Budweiser beer.
• Add all the seasonings, hot sauce, oil and the beaten eggs into the beer and whisk well.
• Using a flour sifter slowly add the flour to the beer bowl and whisk as you go.
• The batter will have a smooth but thick consistency.
• Quickly dredge or dip the foods to be fried, into the beer batter, coating each piece well.
• Allow excess to drip off and add to hot oil.
• Cook until outer coating is a golden brown color.
• Remove food from deep fryer baskets and transfer them to a paper towel lined platter.
• Then place on a dinner platter and set at the table to serve.

Enjoy! 

Suggestions:

• Use a large frying pan if a deep fryer is not available. Just remember that it will take a little extra cooking time using this method.
• Any name brand beer will work with this recipe. The color and flavor of the batter will be adjusted depending on the type of beer used.
• Beer battered onion rings: Slice 3 large sweet onions into rings, then dip in batter and fry till golden brown.
• Cooking times will vary greatly. Pickles, peppers and tomatoes will only take 8-15 seconds to fry; broccoli and cauliflower can take between 2-6 minutes and chicken legs, depending on the size range from French fries, fish filets, chicken (drumsticks, wings, nuggets or tenders), clams, shrimp and vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini sticks, Swiss chard stems and string beans), pickles, peppers and tomatoes 12-15 minutes.
• For those who prefer not to use beer in their batter substitute it with buttermilk.
• Reminder that the beer added to the batter has alcohol in it. That alcohol will evaporate out during the cooking process.
• Never leave the deep fryer or frying pan unattended while frying with oil.
• When cooking is done allow the oil to cool. Pour it into a metal or heavy plastic lidded container. Place container in the refrigerator until you can dispose of the oil on the next trash day. Refrigerating the container will remove the scent of used oil from lingering.