Should've Put A(n Onion) Ring On It

     I wanted to come up with a clever “hello, world” line that wasn’t as lame as “hello, world” to open this first blog post. Clearly, I failed, so err… hello, world! My name is Tayler, I’m 19 years old, and I love to cook, bake, and sew. I currently live with my mom, dad, twin sister, older sister, two dogs, two birds, and pet capuchin monkey. Once August rolls around, however, I’ll be finishing my senior year in college, hooray! I initially became interested in baking about 3-4 years ago when I first baked a batch of homemade pumpkin cookies (oh yes, this recipe will most definitely be posted in the future). They were so delicious that I wanted to keep baking and trying new recipes, and from that day I was hooked.
     But enough about me, let’s talk about onion rings. I realize onion rings may be an odd choice for a first post, but come on, who doesn’t love onion rings? Well, okay, don’t answer that, I know a lot of people who don’t like them, but personally, I think onion rings are delicious. And this recipe was pretty good; I would definitely make them again. The potato chip crust made them crispy and crunchy, and the onions were perfectly cooked. So to all those people who turn their noses up at onion rings: more for me!


Mmmm, potato chips.

Oven-Fried Onion Rings
Recipe adapted from Not Without Salt
Ingredients:
2 medium onions (I used sweet onions), sliced ½-inch thick
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup + 1 tbs flour
1 1/2 cups crushed kettle-cooked potato chips
3 tbs vegetable oil

1. Pre-heat your oven to 450*. Combine 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper and cayenne in a bowl large enough to dip the onions into.
2. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, egg and 1/4 cup + 1 tbs flour. Whisk until a smooth batter is formed. In a third bowl, place your crushed potato chips (see note below).
3. Dip an onion ring into the seasoned flour, then into the buttermilk batter. Let the excess batter dribble off before you coat the wet ring with the crushed chips. You will need to use your hands a bit to make sure the chips adhere. Repeat this process with all the onion rings.
4. Cover a baking sheet with a piece of parchment. Drizzle with vegetable oil then pop it into the hot oven for 8 minutes – or until the oil just starts to smoke. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and rotate to evenly coat with oil.
5. Quickly place your onion rings on the baking sheet then return to the oven. Bake for 8 minutes then flip each ring over before baking for another 8 minutes.
6. Hoard as many as you can for yourself before anyone else in your family realizes they’re finished.


Before.


After, mmmmmm. And seriously, how cute is that basket?!

Note: I had a minor issue coating the battered onions with chips because as I progressed, the chips got pretty wet and icky from the batter and would no longer stick to the onions. I recommend using the crushed chips a bit at a time rather than placing them all into the bowl at once.