Buttermilk Soaked Onion Rings

So after ohhh 2 years we have finally opened our deep fryer that we received for our wedding. Sorry to whoever sent it to us… I can’t remember who you are but trust me we’re grateful…  Is it bad that we haven’t put it away since the unveiling a few weeks ago, but seriously if my hubby had his way we would make something in it every night!! He has become the4 official fry cook and has made some yummy eats recently. It was of course Sunday Football, and we love to make fun foods to nibble on so we went with chicken wings and these delicious onion rings. There wasn’t one recipe in particular that I went with, there are different methods and techniques, one is a light crunchy coating and the other a puffy batter type. I also noticed that most of the recipes only called for you to just dip the onions in the buttermilk and then the flour, I let mine marinate in the buttermilk for a few hours in the refrigerator, and you could tell the difference!! We went with the crunchy version slightly tweaked and wow they were better than I’ve had a quite a few restaurants.

Buttermilk Onion Rings

Items Needed

Deep Fryer/Dutch Oven

Cookie sheet

• 2 large Vidalia Onions
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1-2 tbsp hot Sauce
• salt/pepper
• 2 c all purpose flour

• Peel the onions and slice them crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Separate each slice into individual rings and then remove the papery thin membrane covering the inside of each ring. ***Ok so I know this sounds like a weird thing to do but you know when you bite into an onion ring and the whole onion comes out at the same time it is because this step wasn't done.
• In a Tupperware container add the buttermilk, hot sauce and a liberal amount of salt and pepper toss in the onions and give a good stir with a spoon than pop the top on a give a good shake then place in the fridge for about 2-3 hours, put mine on a plate and flipped it every 1/2 hour or so
• When ready heat the oil to 375 degrees in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot, or a deep fryer like we used, line a cookie sheet with paper towels and set aside also take a shallow dish and pour in the flour
• You will need to do this next step in batches, take the onions out of the fridge and before dipping in the flour allow the excess to drain off and then dredge the rings in the second dish of flour, making sure to coat the rings evenly. Tap off the excess and transfer the batch of coated rings to the hot oil/basket we put about 5-7 rings in each drop of the basket. Fry the rings until golden brown and tender, about 2 1/2 minutes.
• Remove each batch to the paper towel lined cookie sheet and salt right away and try to not to eat to many right out of the fryer… Cook the rest of the onions in batches and eat right away!! They are so yummy you will be lucky if they make it to the table…

 

 

Eat and Enjoy!!

Toasted Ravioli

Sunday football is my favorite day of the week, both me and my hubby have fantasy football teams and are glued to the our TV and computers checking our scores and rooting for our teams. We love to have people over to watch the games and of course eat. I love to make snacks for us to nibble on all day and for some reason I have had a hankering for toasted ravioli, and thought why not… It also happens to be THE food of St Louis, being served at every bar and of course the stadium in St Louis.  I think its fun to make dishes from the different teams! Here is my version of Toasted Ravioli....

Mmmmmmm

Toasted Ravioli

Items Needed:

Frying Pan

Sauce Pan 

• 1 package of small Cheese Ravioli, I used Buitoni ( the light version)
• 2-3 cups, seasoned Panko bread crumbs
• Marinara sauce, I used Rao’s
• Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
• 2 eggs
• water
• pepper
• peanut oil
  
   

• Place 2 cups bread crumbs in a shallow dish and set aside, in a separate shallow dish mix eggs and a few tsp of water to make an egg wash, season with pepper
• Heat about a 1/4 inch of peanut oil to medium high heat
• Dip the ravioli in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs making sure to lightly press the bread crumbs to the ravioli 
• Than carefully add them to the hot oil in batches about 5-7 at a time so that you don’t over crowd the pan, cook about a minute or two on each side until nicely browned keeping a watchful eye on them
• Meanwhile warm up the marinara in a sauce pan
• Remove ravioli to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with Parmesan ann serve immediately with the warmed marinara 

*** Notes: I use skewers to flip the raviolis, they are less cumbersome than a spoon or spatula and do a great job of flipping!  

Eat and Enjoy!!!!