Onion Rings

Beer batter onion rings? No way!

Today is National Onion Ring Day, which presents a real dilemma for me because the very best onion rings I ever tasted was in a restaurant called Hackney’s in Glenview, Illinois and I live in Connecticut.

I first tried Hackney’s onion rings when I was in college and the crunch and salt taste of those things made a lasting impression. Sometimes, you know, the memories outweigh reality. But I went back to Hackney’s a few years ago and the onion rings were just as good as I had remembered.

Here’s what’s good about the Hackney’s onion rings. They aren’t thick with batter crust. Thick batter crusts are all about the crust (which can be soggy or fall off). Hackney’s is about the ONION!

I don’t know what they do to it, but it comes looking like a loaf.

Now, it’s only about 8:30 a.m. on the east coast but I could eat an order of those right now, for breakfast.

I’ve tried making onion rings many ways over the years. The closest I ever came to Hackney’s is the recipe that follows. No beer batter.  Just crispy, salty, wonderful fried onion rings.

Fried Onion Rings

2 large Spanish onions, sliced thin

milk

all-purpose flour

salt

paprika

vegetable oil

Place the sliced onions in a bowl and pour the milk on top. Scatter the rings to get all the onion rings moist. Place about one cup of all-purpose flour on a large plate or in a big plastic bag. Add some salt and paprika (about 1/2 teaspoon each). Heat about 2-inches of vegetable oil in a large, deep pan to 360 degrees (a bread crumb will sizzle). Using a few onion rings at a time, remove the rings from the milk and place in the flour. Toss to coat the rings with some flour. Fry the rings for about 3 minutes, tossing them about as they cook. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Continue with the remaining onion rings. Sprinkle with more salt if you like. Makes about 4 servings unless you really love onion rings, in which case this recipe will serve 2.

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jessehertzberg:

Koman Coulibaly, the ref in the USA v Slovenia World Cup match, managed to accomplish in one moment, what no soccer promoter has been able to do in a lifetime: make this hilarious Simpson’s video look tired.

Swiss Roesti for World Cup and Wimbledon

Big day for Switzerland! The soccer team plays Chile today in the World Cup and tennis champion Roger Federer begins to defend his title in the first day of play at Wimbledon.

Let’s eat.

How about some Swiss Roesti?

Roesti is basically hash browns. Who doesn’t like that? It’s terrific with eggs at breakfast, with a sandwich at lunch and with most everything at dinner.

Here’s an easy recipe.

Roesti

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them in half. Put them in a pot, cover with lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer the potatoes for about 20 minutes or until they are tender. Drain and let the potatoes cool in the refrigerator (this makes it easier to grate them). When the potatoes are cool, grate them into a bowl.

Heat half the butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and press the potatoes down with a firm spatula. Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until well browned on the bottom. Slide the roesti onto a plate or cutting board. Add the remaining butter and olive oil to the pan. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, put the roesti uncooked side down in the pan. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, or until golden brown and crispy. Serve roesti by cutting it into wedges. Makes 4 servings

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Terrific article and recipe

Ronnie - Your take on Father’s Day cooks (and Mother’s Day outings) was profound AND funny! We enjoyed it immensely and were prompted to think about this phenomenon. No BBQ-ing here today in the land of perpetual sunshine & outdoor grilling. We instead attended the Wild West Father’s Day brunch at my mother-in-law’s facility, where all the men wore cowboy hats and a Roy Rogers-Dale Evans-type team sang Happy Trails and clog danced. NEXT YEAR your recipe for sure!

Submitted by Carol Selkin (carol_selkin@sbcglobal.net)

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans — now that brings back a lot of memories!  Happy Trails to you!

Hanger Steak with Charmoula Pesto for Father's Day

How come on Father’s Day so many men cook but on Mother’s Day so many people eat out, usually for brunch? I don’t get it. If men like to cook why don’t they cook for Mother’s Day too?

Is it because Mother’s Day is before the “official” outdoor grill season (which many food writers say starts Memorial Day weekend)?

I don’t think so. Lots of people use their grills all year, or at least when the warmish weather begins and that’s usually before the end of May.

Anyway, Father’s Day seems to be a grill day. In our family it used to be a tribal event at my uncle’s house and included the entire crew of aunts, uncles and cousins. I love my family but always hated this event because my uncle used to grill hot dogs and for so many people that the franks were never crispy on the outside and they were barely cooked. It just became an excuse for me to eat bagsful of potato chips. Even the desserts were remarkably bad — the kind of wobbly cakey-pies that when you see them at a bakery you wonder who would buy them.

When I got married I had an excuse not to go to the family cookout. We got into the habit of visiting my Dad for brunch, then to my in-laws for dinner. My Dad, who was a world-class father, but not a world class cook, would usually make waffles. My mother-in-law made her world class rib roast for dinner. She would never have let my father-in-law near the stove, or even the kitchen for that matter.

So, any dads who are reading this, you should know your children are storing the event in their memory bank. If you’re grilling make it memorable. Here’s a recipe for Grilled Hanger Steak made with a Charmoula Pesto — its a spicy, Moroccan-style sauce that I like on beef, but it’s also good for chicken or lamb. You can also mix some Charmoula with mayonnaise to use as a sandwich spread 1/2 cup may to about 2 teaspoons Charmoula).

Hanger Steak with Charmoula Pesto

• 3 large cloves garlic, mashed
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• salt to taste
• hanger steak, about 2 pounds

Preheat an outdoor grill or oven broiler. Mix the garlic, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, parsley and cilantro in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the olive oil gradually, beating the mixture constantly. Taste and add salt if needed. Brush the mixture over the meat. Let the meat marinate for at least 30 minutes. Grill the steak 4-5 minutes per side or until cooked to your liking.

Makes 4 servings

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Easy Guacamole

Worcestershire alternative?

I’m allergic to fish and there’s fish in Worcestershire sauce. Is the flavor absolutely necessary for burgers? Is there an alternative? 

Thanks!

Hi gillyf

Thanks for the question. There are vegetarian Worcestershire sauces that you can use — they do not contain any anchovies or other fish. You could also use soy sauce.

But the Worcestershire sauce isn’t critical so you can leave it out. Maybe use some sea salt to flavor the burgers.

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Hamburgers for World Cup (or maybe Father's Day)

Hey the U.S. World Cup team is hanging in there! We tied Slovenia 2-2.

Eat a hamburger to celebrate. That’s the American favorite.

If not because of the World Cup, maybe for Father’s Day.

Here’s a good basic recipe for a good hamburger. If you can get the ground brisket, mix it with chuck. This mixture is really savory tasting and has enough fat to keep the burger moist but not greasy.

For extras top the burgers with crispy bacon or Guacamole.

The Ultimate Hamburger for World Cup or Father’s Day

20-24 ounces ground chuck or mixture of chuck and brisket

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons grated onion

few drops of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

ice shavings, optional

4 buns

ketchup and/or mayonnaise

8 thin slices Vidalia onion

8 thin slices tomato

slices of kosher dill pickle

Preheat the grill (or oven broiler). Mix the meat with the Worcestershire sauce, onion, hot pepper sauce and some salt and pepper. Shape into four patties. For rare burgers, make an opening at the edge of the patties and stuff a few ice shavings inside. Grill 6-inches from the heat for about 5-8 minutes„ turning them once, or until they reach the doneness you like. Grill the cut sides of the bun for about 30 seconds. Slather one side of each bun with ketchup or ketchup mixed with mayonnaise, Top with the burger, followed by onion, tomato and pickle and finally the last slice of the bun. Makes 4

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Apple Strudel Day

Today is Apple Strudel Day.

Really, there is such a thing.

But it’s hard to find good apple strudel, even in the best bakeries. The crust, which is paper thin, is supposed to be crisp and flaky but most of the time it’s soggy and tastes like wet cardboard.

I remember my grandmother making her own strudel dough. Like a big miracle the little lump of dough became this enormous sheet as she stretched it with her grandma arms until it was paper thin and the size of the kitchen table. Then she put the seasoned apples on top. Her strudel wasn’t too sweet like the cloying kinds you get today. And she never used chopped nuts because she said they got soggy. (They do, so I add ground nuts along with the usual bread crumbs to hold the fruit together and for extra flavor.)

I made strudel dough once. I didn’t have grandma arms then (they come with age, even in an age when grandmas work out three times a week like I do), so I didn’t manage the dough very well. It stretched all right, but some parts were thicker and lumpier than others and there were several holes in the dough. It tasted okay, barely.

It’s also difficult to find authentic strudel dough.

However, you can make good homemade strudel using phyllo dough. It’s not exactly the same as strudel pastry, but it’s good enough.

Some people find phyllo dough intimidating. But if you thaw it at room temperature you’ll see that the dough sheets separate easily and won’t tear. And be sure to keep the ones you’re not using covered.

Here’s a recipe for Homemade Apple Strudel.

Apple Strudel

• 4 baking type apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

• 3/4 cup golden or regular raisins

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1-1/2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon peel

• 1/2 cup ground almonds

• 1/3 cup plain dry bread crumbs

• 8 phyllo dough sheets

• 10-12 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, place the apple slices, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel, almonds and 3 tablespoons of the bread crumbs. Toss together and set aside. Place one sheet of phyllo dough o a work surface and brush lightly with melted butter. Repeat with 3 more sheets. Using half the apple mixture, place the fruit on one of the long sides of the dough, placing the mixture to within 1-1/2 inches of the bottom and top edges. Roll the dough, jelly roll style around the apple mixture and place the roll, seam side down, on a cookie sheet. Tuck in the ends. Repeat with the remaining 4 sheets of dough and apple mixture. Brush the top of each roll with any remaining melted butter and scatter the remaining 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cut pieces with a serrated knife. 

Makes 2 rolls, each serving about 4 people

Fudge Day

Today is National Fudge Day. I was 14 when I first tried to make some, one of the first recipes I ever tried to cook.

Unfortunately, real fudge is almost impossible to make correctly. You have to get the mixture to the right temperature and get sugar crystals perfect otherwise you wind up with a granular mess that crunches like sand in your mouth.

That’s the kind of fudge I made. My recipe improved after a few tries, but with so many good candy shops out there, if I want fudge these days, I buy it. 

I once found out that fudge was first made by a student at Vassar College. Not to be outdone, there was a competitive version by a student at Wellesley College and later, two students there baked a chocolate cake with fudge frosting and it was forever after known as Wellesley Fudge Cake.

I tried that too, with much greater success than the candy. I changed the recipe over the years until I wound up with a version I like.

The cake is much easier to make than fudge, so here’s the recipe, a really rich and delicious cake with creamy, sweet but also tangy frosting. Tasty on Fudge Day or anytime.

Wellesley Fudge Cake

Cake:

2 cups cake flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 9-inch cake pans. In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer), sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk and shortening and beat the ingredients with a hand mixer (or standing mixer) for about 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another 2 minutes (scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice). Spoon the batter into the two prepared cake pans. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester or the tip of a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Frost with Fudge Frosting.

Fudge Frosting

12 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 cup dairy sour cream

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir the melted chocolate and remove the top part of the double boiler from the heat. Add the sour cream, salt and vanilla extract and whisk the ingredients until smooth. Let cool slightly until the mixture is spreading consistency.

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