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Since I learned that I have high cholesterol (and probably always will -- family history), I think about fats every single time I put something into my mouth. Every day is a balancing act -- good fats, bad fats, not too much fat. Some days I do better than others, and I think that's o.k. I don't expect that I will eat only fruits and vegetables for the rest of my days. Some days you just have to eat corned beef -- just a smaller portion.
Last week I put Oven Baked Reubens on my menu -- a way to use up leftover New England Boiled Dinner corned beef. I put less beef on my sandwich than I would have before, and I used light Swiss cheese -- compromise. I also compromised on my side dish -- Oven Fried Onion Rings. Not exactly low in fat, but much lower than deep-fried and so delicious. Oh my goodness! These will make it on our menu frequently, and I think next time they might be paired with a Chocolate Malt (low fat ice cream). Between the sandwich and the onion rings, the meal was definitely diner fare.
I found the recipe at the Brown-Eyed Baker and I don't think there is a thing I could do to perfect it. My only tip is to keep one hand dry and one hand wet when you are breading to keep from washing continually. Also -- I did not have any parchment paper on hand so I used aluminum foil and sprayed it with cooking spray. Whoops -- one more tip -- I first crushed the chips by hand, inside the bag, but found the crumbs were not fine enough. I ended up throwing them into the food processor for a whirl.
Oven-Fried Onion Rings
about six side-dish servings
2 medium (or 1 large) sweet onions, sliced ½-inch thick
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg
¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ cups crushed potato chips (kettle-cooked chips, if available)
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine ¼ cup flour, salt, black pepper and cayenne in a bowl.
In another bowl combine the buttermilk, egg and additional flour, whisking until a smooth batter is formed.
In a third bowl, place the crushed potato chips.
Prepare the onion rings by first dipping a ring into the seasoned flour, then into the batter (let the excess batter drip off), and then coat with the crushed potato chips. As you finish the rings, place them on a large plate. Repeat with all rings (make sure you have all the rings breaded before you proceed).
Cover a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper (or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray -- I used two cooking sheets so they would have plenty of room). Drizzle the vegetable oil on the parchment-lined sheet and place in the oven for 8 minutes. Carefully remove the sheet from the oven and tilt to evenly coat with oil.
Working quickly, place your onion rings on the baking sheet and return to oven. Bake for 8 minutes, then flip onion rings (carefully or the breading will come off) and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown.
While baking, prepare your dipping sauce!
Dipping Sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons ketchup
2 Tablespoons horseradish
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
Dash ground black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate.
Source: Brown Eyed Baker.
1 comment:
Another option for crushing finer would be to use a rolling pin on the bag (or put them in a closed ziploc a little at a time). It may take longer and you have to be careful not to pop the bag, but the rolling pin covers much better than just crushing them by hand and you save yourself some dishes. Then again, I've only used this method with saltine crackers and potato chips may stick together a little more due to the amount of oil in them.
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