Cornmeal fried Onion Rings

Something new in the Curious kitchen - deep frying! I wanted a little adventure and a little sinfulness, even if it is still Lent. To take the chill off the early spring, the menu on a Sunday was grilled ribeye steak with fresh-fried onion rings. The recipe comes from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten.

I have not tried deep frying before because it seems to me it makes a great mess and maybe complicated too. To counter this, to fry I have used a deeper pot (a Le Creuset in this case) to prevent splattering, and had everything in place before starting the process. In the end, it was a simple recipe and the end result is addictively delicious!

Useful tools: deep and heavy pot, candy thermometer, metal tongs

Cornmeal-fried Onion Rings
Serves 4-6

3 yellow onions (or 2 Spanish onions) - peels and sliced to 1/2-3/4 inches
3 cups buttermilk or 3 cups milk and 3 tablespoons white vinegar (let sit 5 minutes)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup medium cornmeal
1 quart (4 cups) vegetable oil

Heat oven to 200F and have sheet prepared with paper towel, when ready to fry the onions.

Combine buttermilk, 2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add onions and soak for at least 15 minutes (up to a few hours). In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Soaking and dredging stations

Heat oil to 350F in large pot (use a candy thermometer or equivalent to measure). Working in batches, lift out some onions and dredge in the flour mixture. I found using a fork made this easy. The rings should be lightly coated - just this amount makes a crispy flavourful coating.

Ready to go in the fryer

Drop the rings into the oil (don't crowd), and fry for 2 minutes. Flip using tongs once, frying until golden brown.

Readjust the heat if the oil gets to hot or cools off

Put the finished rings onto the sheet and sprinkle liberally with salt.

Keep them warm in the oven until all the onions are fried. They keep for about 30 minutes. Serve them hot!

These were excellent with a hot grilled steak: