Hey folks,
This is my first attempt at blogging. My name is Daniel Peikes, and I run a small kosher catering business in Chicago. I enjoy food, and even more so I enjoy cooking. I want to write a cook book and I figured a blog would be a great place to get ideas for it and get feedback on the recipies. Now as an orthodox jew all my recipies will be strictly kosher. For more details on what makes something kosher please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher. My goal is to post 1 dish a week. Feel free to try it out for your self, and make any suggestions you think might improve the dish. The first few weeks I may not post every week as I am in the proccess of movingt and have alot of work to do on my new condo and not alot of time to do it. I would like to start the ball rolling on a favorite dish of mine since I was a kid, Onion Rings. I want to know what people think about breading VS batter dipping? Baking VS pan frying VS deep frying? What pots and/or pans do you use? What kind of breading or batter do you use? What ratio of liquid to solid do you use in your batter? What spices do you use? What oil do you use? What oiltemp do you use? What draining methods do you use? What type of onion do you use?
Must be:
ReplyDeleteVidalia Onions
Batter=Alton Brown's
Deep fried
I'm minimalistic so I don't appreciate the flares of spices in such types of food. Exactly as AB does is perfect in my book... :-/ Sorry...but at least you know someone read it! I also bookmarked the blog to keep up with some new recipes.
Good luck!
-Seth
I to, am a big fan of just about anything AB says. Vidalia, are a good choice due to their "sweetness", although I seem to remember AB calling for the use of leeks for better adhesion to the batter. More when I finish looking up AB's recipe for rings.
ReplyDeleteHere is AB's Leek Ring Recipie
ReplyDeleteLeek Rings Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Sprung a Leek
3 quarts oil (peanut, vegetable, or canola)
12 ounces leeks, cleaned and trimmed of dark green parts
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
Preheat the oil in a heavy 5-quart pot over medium-high heat to 375 degrees F.
Slice the leeks into 1/2-inch wide rings, separating them 2 layers at a time.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg. In another medium mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Divide the flour into 2 separate, shallow dishes and place the milk and egg mixture in a third. Going 1 small handful at a time, dip the rings first into the first flour mixture, then into the milk and egg, and then into the second flour mixture. Working in batches, fry the rings for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the rings to a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and allow to drain for 2 to 3 minutes before serving. Season with additional salt, if desired.
Here is my first issue with AB's recipie. In the whole kosher thing we do not eat milk and meat at the same meal, so i could only use this recipie when having a dairy meal. The second concerd I have it the use on leeks, I am not sure if I will get the same sweetness from leeks as vidalias.
ReplyDeleteOk so the thought is to go with a flour and beer batter. I have used this type of batter before also with pretty good reseult. From my experiance and this needs more testing is to use a heavier darker beer like guiness. I am also thinking about using high gluten bread flour to try and get a better crisp. Any one have any ideas as far as beer and flour type??
ReplyDeleteHere is another recipie from cooks.com that calls for dark beer and pastry flour or Wondra. Enjoy it while I wiki Wondra.
ReplyDeleteONION RING BEER BATTER
1/2 cup dark beer
1/2 cup seltzer water or club soda
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 cup Wondra or pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Pour beer and seltzer water or soda into the bowl of a blender or food processor (or a stick blender can be used). Sprinkle in pepper, mustard, salt and onion powder and oil. Pulse until combined. Add flour last, and process only until mixed. Batter may still be slightly lumpy, but almost smooth. If too pasty, add a teaspoon of water at a time until mixture has the consistency of a pancake batter.
Whisk egg white until frothy in a shallow bowl. Gently stir in contents of food processor, mixing until combined.
Another idea that has been suggested is to soak the rings in buttermilk althought I might use something else to avoid using dairy, and then dip then into a dry flour mix
ReplyDeleteSo I have been getting suggestions to do equal amounts of flout and beer
ReplyDelete