Onion Rings

Onion Ring Batter
125 grams all-purpose (plain) flour
550 grams cornstarch
7.5 grams baking powder
8 grams salt
water, as needed

Whisk the dry ingredients together, then gradually whisk in water until it forms a smooth, thick batter. If I had to estimate, I'd say begin with 1/4 cup of water and go from there. For the consistency, you want the batter to be thick but just thin enough that it can easily coat something that is dipped in it, and the batter clings to it.

For onion rings: Peel one large onion and slice into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Separate the individual slices into rings, discarded the cores. This batch of batter is the perfect amount for one large onion, but can easily be multiplied up to make more batter.

To fry: I find the easiest way to do this is to dip the rings one by one, coating them fully and allowing the excess batter to drip back into the bowl. Then carefully drop into the fryer. You can also throw a few at a time in the bowl of batter and place them one by one in the fryer, cooking in batches. The batter will likely drip a bit so plan your workspace accordingly and prepare for snackers to be eating the little crispy bits of batter that will end up in he fryer. Fry at 375◦F until golden, flipping rings halfway so they cook evenly on both sides.

To serve: A little sprinkling of salt and these are ready to serve immediately. If they are to be served later, they can be reheated in the oven. An even better method is to fry them in advance, until light in color, then refry them later until golden and crisp and serve.

Bizarre Beer Battering

Tonight for supper my father made (vegan) beer-battered onion rings as a side dish. They were quite good. We own a deep fryer, but rarely haul it out to use it. So since we had the fryer out with hot oil, and had a little extra beer batter left over, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and do some experimenting. Chefs are curious by nature, and I love trying new things and playing around in the kitchen sometimes when there is no pressure.

Top left: Pasta, top right: Cashews, bottom: Brownie

I hadn't planned in advance, so I just looked around in the fridge and cupboard for (vegan) things I could try beer-battering; just to see how they tasted and if it would work. Here is what I tried, and what I discovered:

1. Leftover Pasta - I've actually tried this before and it is awesome! It's such a nice, chewy and crispy texture. It works well with thicker shapes such as shells and bowties, not so much spaghetti. I once beer battered a filled ravioli and it was awesome!
2. Cashews - This worked quite nicely as well. Put four or five cashews covered in a spoonful of batter and fry until golden. 
3. Leftover Chocolate Brownie - This was AMAZING! The batter doesn't remain overly thick or provide a lot of flavor, but simply gives a protective coating, allowing the brownie to warm up again and the chocolate to melt.
4. Tahnini - This one didn't really work so well, it was too thin to coat itself or blend in with the batter.
5. Strawberry Jam - This went better than expected. It made a sweet-savory snack.
6. Spice Cookie (commericial) - This was also very, very good. It is much like the brownie, where the cookie warms up and softens for that fresh-from-the-oven texture again.
7. Plain Beer Batter - Of course, if you have leftover batter you can always spoon it or pipe it in different shapes and eat it as is because everyone knows the batter is the best part.

Spice cookie

The key for beer battering other items is a very thick batter. Sometimes a thinner, pancake-like batter works well for fish, but you need a thicker, muffin-like batter for items like cashews. You can flavor the batter with spices if you wish, to match whatever you are beer battering, or season after frying. A rule of thumb is anything savory should be sprinkled with salt immediately upon emerging from the fryer, and anything sweet with icing sugar.