Crispy Fried Onions

These fried onions are one of my go-to garnishes. Fast, easy, and always tasty. Simply slice an white onion (or more than one, depending upon how much you want) into thin rounds (or half rounds, if you prefer). Place them in a plastic bag and coat them thoroughly with a small amount of all-purpose flour. You can also add any spices and seasonings to the flour as you wish. Drop the onions (in batches as necessary) into hot oil. I always use a small amount of oil in a pot on the stove to do this. A deep-fryer could also be used. I don't know what temperature the oil should be and I don't think it matters too much. As long as it sizzles when you drop an onion piece in it it is good to go. Stir the onions around very once in a while so they cook more evenly. Drain them on paper towels once they are golden and crisp. Sprinkle with a little salt and enjoy as a snack, side, or garnish.

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.

Asian Inspired Vegetable Fritters

Asian Inspired Vegetable Fritters
1 package firm tofu, well drained and patted dry
1 small leek, green part only, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 bunch green onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons tamari
2 teaspoons fresh ginger
1/4 - 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until vegetables are chopped finely and all ingredients are combined. Stir in additional flour by hand if needed if mixture is too wet or it doesn't hold together in a ball.
Form dough into balls - you can make them as large or as small as you want, for a bite-sized hors d'oevure or a larger appetizer plate. I got about 42 from my batch. You can chill the mixture before or after rolling into balls or both, as chilling may help them stay together. When ready to cook, fry in a deep fryer until golden and crisp on the outside.

This is a really easy, vegan snack or starter recipe, as you don't need to worry about knife skills - let the food processor do all the work for you! The tofu binds the fritters together, and the oil and tamari flavor them. These are quite healthy, that is until you deep-fry them. However, I recently read that deep-frying vegetables actually increases some of the nutrient content, albeit adding extra fat. I'm not sure if i totally buy that or not, so if you prefer, I am sure these could be flattened and pan-fried or baked.

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.

Homemade Fries

My father made these for the first time while I was away, and again now, upon my request. We have made fries and sweet potato fries in the oven before, but never in the deep-fyrer. Partly because we have only had the deep-fryer for a few years now. We are not big on deep-fried food, but a light frying with just a little oil and these fries are delicious! My father has now perfected the process - the potatoes need to be peeled and cut and placed in ice, then fried twice, with a 30 minute rest in between frying times to cool. Not exactly sure on the science on that one but it sure works. Apparently three fry times are even better, but that is a bit labor intensive. I am not a huge fry fan, but homemade fries that still resemble potatoes and not just greasy sticks I do enjoy. I eat them plain - not even a little salt or ketchup. I bet sweet potatoes would be good like this too, or even squash or carrot fries. My father has now perfected these fries - and they are delicious and crispy, even using the same batch of oil as the first time. They go well with a variety of different meals, breakfast, lunch, supper, or even a snack!

New Year's Ollie Bollen

I know I featured these last year as well, but the occasion for Ollie Bollen only comes around once a year, so I figured I would share them again! Besides, this is only our third year making them, and every year we are improving more and more and discovering different techniques that work better. Just as a brief recap, Ollie Bollen are deep fried Dutch fritters, literally translated as "oil balls", but commonly referred to as Dutch doughnuts. They are traditionally made and enjoyed once a year on New Year's Eve, and any leftovers (which doesn't always happen) are enjoyed for breakfast the next morning with a steaming cup of coffee. Ollie Bollen are best eaten fresh of course, but they do reheat fairly well the next day in the toaster oven. And of course, you cannot have Ollie Bollen that have not been sprinkled (or more commonly, drowned) in a layer of icing sugar.
My father is always the master of the Ollie Bollen dough and deep fryer at our house. This is likely because he grew up in the Dutch household and was already familiar with the process. I believe he uses a recipe that is a combination of a modern recipe we found in one of our breads cookbooks, and his mother's old recipe. Ollie Bollen are okay plain, but they taste better with some chopped apples or raisins and the best with both. We also tried chopped, mixed glazed fruit (leftover from Christmas), which was good but a tad sticky and messy in the deep-fryer. We have even tried adding miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips, but be advised that this turns the oil a little messy, so if you really want chocolate Ollie Bollen, wait until the end of the batch. They are quite tasty though!

Ollie-Bollen

Ollie-Bollen are deep-fried Dutch fritters traditionally made on New Year's Eve. There are several different spelling variations of the name, including Olie Bollen, Oliebollen and Oliebol, but they all refer to these delicious Dutch doughnuts. The literal translation of Ollie-Bollen is "oil balls" as they are deep fried. This doesn't make them sound very appealing, but they really are good, and don't turn out very greasy at all. Although they are referred to as doughnuts, Ollie-Bollen are closer in taste and texture to little fritters. They are made from a yeast dough enriched with flour, eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla. They are usually flavored with something too, commonly apples, raisins, citrus zest, or combinations of these; although we have also successfully made plain ones, a bit bland, but nothing a pile of icing sugar can't fix!  Ollie-Bollen  are dropped by teaspoons into hot oil and fried just until crispy and golden. Then they are drained and dunked in as much icing sugar as possible. It isn't considered Ollie-Bollen unless you can inhale icing sugar while biting into a fritter.

My father's family used to always make Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve, and we recently began continuing the tradition. The leftovers are commonly eaten for breakfast the next morning with a cup of coffee. Ollie-Bollen are said to have originally been in eaten in the Netherlands by Germanic tribes during the Yule period.

Ollie-Bollen are not particularly difficult to make, but they do take some practice, and you must be familiar with a deep fryer to make them. Although they can be fried in a pot of hot oil on the stove, this can be dangerous and is not recommended. Ollie-Bollen dough also requires some rising time, so plan ahead. You may find some fritters close to Ollie-Bollen in coffee shops, especially in Europe, but homemade are much better. Ollie-Bollen are nice and crisp on the outside and tender and flaky on the inside. They also have a nice flavor and a sweet coating. There is nothing like a fresh Ollie-Bollen on New Year's Eve!