Baked Onion Rings with Bacon Beer Batter

One of my favorite things in the kitchen is to find oven-baked versions of foods that are traditionally fried. Once you get the hang of battering and breading something tasty, then spraying it with oil and baking till it’s crisp, it’s amazing how many reduced-guilt foods you can make. This recipe, for baked onion rings with a bacon-beer batter, is a good example.


As with most food that is breaded and baked, the recipe itself is easy; the steps for coating the food, while simple, need to be done with some care.


In general, breading food (the onion rings, in this case) starts with coating it lightly with flour, dipping it in batter, then pressing it into the breading, all done in a way that a) coats the food and b) doesn’t make a big mess on the counter, your hands, or anywhere else. If you’re doing a few larger food items (such as fish filets), applying the coating is easy, since there’s not much opportunity for your batter to mix with your breading and turn it into a pasty mess that sticks to your hands but not to the food. With onion rings, however, you’re coating a large number of small food items, so batter messing up your dry breadcrumbs can be a real problem. Through trial-and-error (mostly error), I’ve found it’s your hands, not the onion rings, that drop too much batter into the breading. There are a couple of ways to deal with this.


The first is to have the flour and the breading in sealable plastic bags. The other way is having them in bowls, and – here’s the key – using a spoon to move the battered rings into the breading and press them into the breadcrumbs. (For either approach, the batter is in a bowl.) Regardless of which method you use, I’ve found it’s still a good idea to reserve some of your breading mixture at first, and add it to the bag or bowl now and then during the process to help keep the breadcrumbs as close to dry as possible, which is the key to making this work.


This recipe yields 3 to 4 servings. (One onion may not sound like much, but if it’s really a large one you might be surprised at how many rings it makes. The rings on the platter in the photo all came from one large onion.)


Let’s make some tasty onion rings...
Peel the onion, slice it into ¼” thick slices, and separate slices into rings. Discard the smallest inner pieces or store for use in another recipe.


Cook 2 slices of turkey bacon in a pan or microwave oven. When the bacon is done, mince it and set the pieces aside.


Combine 1-1/2 cups each of Panko and plain bread crumbs. (You can also use just plain bread crumbs, but I like the mix of textures you get from combining them with the Panko.) Put half of the mixture in a 1 gallon zip-lock bag or a bowl. Set the other half of the mixture aside, and add it to the zip-lock bag or bowl as needed to keep the breadcrumbs dry while you’re breading the onion rings later. Place 1 cup of all-purpose flour in a bowl or 1-quart zip-lock bag.


Prepare the batter by combining 12 ounces of beer, 2 egg-substitute eggs or beaten regular eggs, and ½ cup of all-purpose flour. Whisk until a well-mixed batter forms. Whisk in additional flour as needed (up to another ½ cup) until the batter is thick enough to stick to the onions. Add the minced bacon to the batter and mix well.


Place the onion rings, a few at a time, in the flour bag or bowl to coat them lightly. Dip them one at a time into the batter, making sure some bacon is included in the batter that’s on the onion ring. Let the excess batter drain off until the onion ring is still coated but not dripping, then place in the ring in the breadcrumb bag or bowl and coat by shaking (if using a bag) or by pressing with a spoon (if using a bowl). If necessary to coat the ring, repeat the batter and breadcrumb steps. Place each coated ring on a baking sheet lined with parchment. (Depending on the size of your baking sheet, you may need two.)


Put the baking sheet(s) with the onion rings in your refrigerator to rest for about 30 minutes. While the rings are resting, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare the dipping sauce by mixing the following ingredients and refrigerating until ready to serve: 1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise; juice of ½ lemon; 2 teaspoons of brown mustard; ½ tablespoon fresh or prepared horseradish; and ½ teaspoon of paprika. (When serving, sprinkle a little additional paprika on the dip as a garnish.)


After the breaded onion rings have finished resting, spray them with cooking spray and bake for about 25 minutes until the coating is crisp. (Turn the baking sheets half-way and swap their positions for more even baking.) If you’re not sure if they’re done, grab a sample and give it a taste. (Even if you are sure they’re done, grab one for a taste anyway. You deserve it!) Season them with salt to taste and serve hot, with the dipping sauce on the side. And try to finish them the first day; leftovers can be reheated the next day, but when stored and reheated they lose a good bit of their delicious crunch.
So there it is: beer, bacon and onion rings. What’s not to enjoy?


If you prefer a cookbook-style, notebook-ready copy of this recipe, say the word and I’ll send it along.


See you next week with another easy, fun recipe. Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

New Year’s Day Deviled Eggs with Black-Eyed Peas, Spinach and Bacon

[Although I normally post new recipes on Saturdays, this week’s recipe is being posted on Friday so you’ll have it in time for your New Year’s celebration!]


In America, one of the great New Year’s Day traditions comes from the south: eating black-eyed peas for good luck. I admit it lacks the obvious appeal of the Dutch custom of eating donuts on New Year’s Day for good luck, but black-eyed peas – which are actually beans – are high in iron, fiber, potassium, and high quality protein, and low in fat, sodium and cholesterol. Take that, donuts! 


I was introduced to this tradition by my mother-in-law, who hailed, and proudly, from Meridian, Texas. Every New Year’s Day, all family members were expected to have at least one black-eyed pea. (I can’t prove that eating them brought us good luck, but not eating them when she offered would have resulted in immediate bad luck, which amounts to the same thing.) As it turned out, I liked them, which was good for at least a few points with my mother-in-law.


The usual southern custom is to make them part of a larger dish that includes bacon, ham, or similar fatty meat as a symbol of hope for a “fat” year ahead. (It also doesn’t hurt that bacon just tastes good.) The dish also often includes greens of some kind, which legend tells us symbolize paper money.


And so, to get 2011 off to a proper start, my offering today is “New Year’s Day Deviled Eggs with Black-Eyed Peas, Spinach and Bacon.” Rather than the usual egg-yolk-with-mustard filling, these deviled eggs are filled with a tasty black-eyed pea hummus. (Loyal reader and fellow food blogger Sandra of Toronto Bites recently created a lovely cranberry sauce I was honored to learn was inspired by mine. As an admirer of the wonderfully creative work Sandra has done with hummus, I’m pleased today to return the inspiration-favor.)


This recipe makes enough filling for your New Year’s Day open house, about 48 deviled half-eggs. If you don’t need to make quite that many, you can also use the filling as you would any other hummus: on flat bread, as a healthy dip or sandwich spread, etc. (Earlier this week I rolled some up in a large tortilla with grape tomatoes and some fat-free cheese slices and had a delicious lunch!)
Make your tahini by toasting ½ cup of sesame seeds at 350 degrees for 5 – 10 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool for about 15 minutes, then combine with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a food processor, pureeing until creamy.


Mix the tahini with 1-3/4 cups of black-eyed peas (canned is ok, drained but not rinsed); 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 1-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire; 2 chopped garlic cloves; ½ a chopped green pepper; 1/3 cup spinach (frozen is ok if thawed and the excess water is squeezed out); 1-1/2 tablespoons of chopped onion; and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Put the mixture in the food processor – in batches if necessary - and process briefly to a thick, spreading consistency. (Don’t over-process the mixture; you don’t want it to get creamy!)


Fold in 3 tablespoons of crisp turkey bacon, chopped small. Salt and pepper the mixture to taste.


Remove and discard the yolk of each half egg, and fill the well to slightly heaping with the black-eyed pea filling. (Be careful not to overdo the filling. It will make the eggs look sloppy and, more importantly, will put the egg-to-filling taste out of balance and make it not taste as good.) Top each with a few pieces of diced tomato. (You’ll need about a cup of diced tomato if doing all 48 deviled eggs.) Top each filled egg with a small amount dried parsley.
You’re now ready to serve this delicious – and healthy – treat to friends and family. Just remember to save some for yourself. You don’t want everyone else to have all the good luck, you know! (And why take chances? Grab a donut while you’re at it.)


For a cookbook style, notebook ready copy of this recipe, just let me know in a comment, an e-mail or on Facebook at Kissingthecook Recipes, and I’ll send it along.


A happy, healthy and prosperous New Year, everyone! Now and throughout 2011, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)