We eat pretty healthy around the homestead, but every once in a while we get a hankering for something a little naughty in the food department. Last night it was onion rings. Mr. Homesteader asked for them; I made ‘em.
Ozark Homesteader's Onion Rings
Like my incredibly easy cheese sauce and way-too-quick chocolate sauce, I hesitate to post this recipe. (I’m starting to wonder if I need a junk food category for the blog.) The good news is that these onion rings are not that quick if you do them right, so maybe you won’t make these rings too often.
You’ll need one good-sized yellow onion, cut into rings about 1/3-inch thick each. The ends will probably be a bit thicker; that’s okay. Dry the onion rings. Set up a dredging station with three bowls: (1) corn starch with seasoning (pinch of salt, cayenne pepper) ; (2) egg beaten with beer (about 2:1 ratio, so 2 eggs would take 1/4 cup beer); (3) panko bread crumbs. One or two rings at a time, dredge the rings first in the corn starch, then the egg-beer mixture. Let the rings drain from a fork before moving them to the panko crumbs using same said fork and pressing the panko mixture lightly into the rings, one ring at a time. If you do too many rings at once in the panko, you’ll mess up your crumbs. Now set the rings aside on a baking pan until you’ve battered them all.
To bake: In a single pan sprayed with oil, lay out the rings and bake them at 350-375 degrees F for about 20 minutes, flipping half way through. Season and enjoy!
To fry: Heat two or three inches of high-temp vegetable oil in a cast-iron Dutch oven or similar pot. You’ll want a fairly hot fry–350 degrees to 375 degrees F, to keep the oil from absorbing. Fry rings a few at a time for a minute or two on each side, draining well before transferring the rings to a holding platter. Season and enjoy!
We had our rings both ways the other night, and we like both ways almost equally. Yes, it was the fried ones we liked a little more. Maybe a quick spray of oil on the top of the baked rings before we baked them would have done the trick. What makes these rings good are their combination of crisp and tender. The cornstarch helps to dry the rings and lets the egg-beer batter adhere, making it possible for the panko crumbs to hang on. The panko crumbs will remain crumbs instead of clumps because you’re breading just one ring at a time. The results are disgustingly divine, if I do say so myself.
What junk food do you occasionally make at home?
Copyright 2010 Ozarkhomesteader. All rights reserved.
is pizza junk food if you make it with good homegrown stuff?
If not, then count me guilty.
We do love the rare treat of fried chicken. Just can’t beat it. Rare, though. Usually i oven-fry it but once a year maybe I go wild and have it really fried.
We need to discuss fried chicken some day. I used to be good at making it, in the style of my dear Georgia grandmother. I still remember the steps but wasn’t happy the last time I made it.
Oh, I hope homemade pizza isn’t junk food!
I love onion rings. I have to confess though, that I’m less uptight about fats since I read Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions. So I wouldn’t consider these junk food. Actually, I would only consider foods loaded with at least three different kinds of sugar, hydrogenated fat, bleached white flour, and preservatives to be junk food.
I’m not fat-averse either. And you can get whole-grain panko now.
Yum!
That’s what we said!