Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Roasted Red Onion Rings With Smoked Paprika Coating....."Yeah, Whatever"


This is my second attempt in 2 days to make these onion rings. My thoughts were thus: I really like onion rings as do lots of people (this revelation came to me whilst watching Married To The Mob on Sunday). Problem is, they're unhealthy. Now I'm not averse to unhealthy things, not at all, but I don't even have a deep-fat-fryer...And that's a good thing!
So I was thinking about the idea of just baking them in a hot oven. Furthermore, since they have an inherent high water content, if I season some flour with a little salt and lots of smoked paprika, well then maybe it'll stick to the onion rings...Job done......

Oh how wrong can you be?

They came out burnt on the inside and just dusty with raw flour on the outside. Tasted really strange. Ryan agreed with me - under duress - that they're "..almost good". They weren't almost good, they were really bitter, just like I was after I made them.

Start Again.

Ok, so I started to write that nonsense above about a week or so ago. Today I decided to have another go at this idea and so I went down to the cupboard and found the new red onions I had bought for the job. My intention was to test out making a kind of batter with flour, salt, smoked paprika and fizzy water. I was then going to see how successfully I could coat these and cook them in the oven: a kind of in-between version that is battered but still not fried.....

Problem.

The onions were completely rotten - both of them. I swear they sat in the naturally cooled large open-plan cupboard/larder type thing for only a few days. What is it with vegetables? I seem to suffer this problem frequently; I never seem to get to grips with storing fresh vegetables very well. Those trays in the bottom of the fridge, designed for salad and what-not, with their special dials that can be rotated to open or close a vent, well they just do nothing. I do better using those compartments to hide chocolate and cakes in.

So anyway, I thought I might do a bit of a Google for tips on how to store these fruits of the earth (is that even a saying?).

This one is funny, of Jerusalem Artochokes:

As with other root crops, the simplest method of storage is to leave it in the ground. It keeps 1 month in a dark, cool place away from intense cold. Keeps well in boxes packed with peat moss.


I would leave them in the ground, only I have never been to the farm Sainsbury's get them from, let alone met the farmer and had a chance to ask him "...could you leave mine in the ground mate? - I'll come over a dig them up when I need them". Also I never realised Peat had changed his name to Kate'’s ya know?

And this one just isn't true:

Tomatoes will keep 2-4 weeks in the refrigerator although they tend to lose flavor over long periods. They can be pulped then bottled or processed into soups and sauces and frozen.

They never last that long for me.

What about this one:

Fresh asparagus will keep in the refrigerator 7-10 days after harvesting. Break off the rough ends and stand upright in 1 inch of water.

It’s the after harvesting bit I like. That'’s always been my problem: I mess around too long instead of heading straight home when I'’ve been out harvesting. What an idiot I am.

Ah well what ya gonna do eh?

I think I'’ll go out and buy some frozen onion rings.

x




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