Fried Onion Dippers With Balsamic Ketchup Food

CARAMELIZED ONION JAM WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Steps:

• Fill a canning pot with water, set the lid in place, and heat on high heat until boiling. It can take awhile for the water to come to a boil, so get it started before you begin making the jam.
• Gather the jars you'll use, making sure each is clean and free of nicks in the rim, which could impede sealing.
• Bring a small pot of water to a simmer and turn off the heat. Drop the rings and lids into the water and leave them there until you're ready to screw them onto the filled jars.
• Put olive oil and onions in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat stirring only occasionally; cook until golden, about 10-15 minutes.
• Add sugar and balsamic vinegar and cook until thickened and somewhat syrup-y. Add salt, pepper, and herbs.
• Proceed with canning steps or cool and transfer to an airtight container for refrigerator storage.
• Ladle hot jam into quarter-pint, half-pint, or pint sized jars, leaving 1/4" head space. A canning funnel makes this easy.
• Wipe jar rims to remove any jam that may have spilled. A clean rim is essential to a good seal.
• Set jar lids in place. Screw bands on finger tight.
• Use a jar lifter to gently submerge jars into hot water in the canning pot. Water should cover the top of the jars by an inch. The water will cool somewhat in reaction to the addition of the jars. Return the water to a simmer and then set the timer.
• Process for 10 minutes 0-1,000 feet altitude; add an additional minute for every additional 1,000 feet in elevation.
• Remove jars from water using the jar lifter and transfer to a solid, towel-covered surface. Allow to cool for 24 hours.
• Check seals. Lids should be solid and pulled down tight. (if they flex and pop, the jar didn't seal; put unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use those first).
• Remove rings and wash outsides of jars. Store in a cool, dry place.

DEEP-FRIED ONIONS WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Cut onion into 1-in. wedges and separate into pieces. In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne and pepper., For batter, in another shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir in beer. Dip onions into the flour mixture, then into batter and again into flour mixture. , In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry onions, a few at a time, for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with onions.

FRIED ONION DIPPERS WITH BALSAMIC KETCHUP

Steps:

• For balsamic ketchup:
• Cook garlic in oil in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute.
• Add vinegar and boil over medium heat until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in ketchup, sugar, mustard, cloves, allspice, cayenne (if using), and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, until it's thick and well blended.
• Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
• Fry onion wedges:
• Heat oven to 200°F.
• Whisk together flour, club soda, and salt in a bowl until smooth. Trim both ends of onion and then peel it. Halve onion lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Separate wedges into pieces.
• Heat 2 inches oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat until it registers 365°F on thermometer.
• Working in batches of about 8, toss onion wedges in batter until coated. Lift onion pieces out of batter one at a time, letting excess batter drip off, and carefully transfer to hot oil. Fry onion dippers, turning with a slotted spoon, until golden, about 2 minutes, then transfer with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 365°F between batches.)
• Sprinkle dippers with salt while still hot and keep warm on a rimmed baking sheet in oven until all onions have been fried.

DEEP FRIED ONION RINGS WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. Using a nice sharp knife cut onions half an inch thick. Remove all outer brown layers, then carefully separate the rings. (You can save the tiny center rings for your other dishes.) Put rings in a bowl and pour buttermilk over them, then cover and let sit in the fridge for an hour.
• 2. Mix together all 8 ingredients for the dipping sauce in a bowl and stir until it's nice and creamy. Cover and put in the fridge until it's time to serve.
• 3. Now you will make your dredging station. First, combine the 1 cup of flour and next 6 dry ingredients, down to the salt and pepper, and whisk them together. Using your whisk, add beer to the mixture until it is the consistency of heavy cream. It will not need the entire can of beer. It's okay to have some lumps. Now add olive oil and set aside while you prepare the rest of your dredging station.
• 4. Put the 1 1/2 cups of flour in a pie pan or large soup bowl. In another pie pan or large soup bowl, combine Panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, and salt. Toss to combine with a fork. Now you are ready to start dredging your onion rings.
• 5. Now set up your dredging station. You need a wire cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet to put your onions once you have dredged them. First, you want your dish of flour next to your beer batter. Then your panko bread crumb mixture. Put your wire rack next to it. Set up your frying station so that your oil can start heating. You need it to come to 375 degrees before you put any of your onion rings in. You want to hold the heat at 375. It takes a little while to reach 375.
• 6. Take out the bowl with the onions in buttermilk, drop 2 or 3 onion rings into the flour and evenly dust them with flour; shake off excess. Then drop them in the beer batter and evenly coat them; shake off excess. Now drop them into the panko bread crumb mixture and evenly coat. Place on the rack to rest while you dredge more onions.
• 7. When your oil reaches 375 gently drop a few of your coated onions into the oil, being very careful not to splash any of the oil. DO NOT overfill your fryer or they will stick together. I turn them over every couple minutes until they are a nice golden brown. You can continue to dredge your other onions while your first batch is frying. When they reach the desired doneness, lift them from the oil and put on a paper towel lined plate. You can put them in the oven on the keep warm setting (if you don't have that heat the oven then turn it off, you don't want it too hot).
• 8. Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy! You know you have a perfect onion ring if when you bite into it the onion does not pull out of the coating. I know it sounds like a lot of work but really it goes together fairly easy, and darn they taste so good! Your family and friends will love them, now sit back and enjoy.

DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, ketchup, horseradish, paprika, salt, oregano, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

BALSAMIC CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• Heat a medium size skillet to medium high heat.
• Add butter and onions to pan.
• Saute until onions are translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Add in salt and pepper.
• Stir and continue to saute, stirring throughout for another 10 minutes. (the liquid will start to leave and onions will slightly brown, be sure they don't burn or blacken)
• Add balsamic vinegar to onions, stir and saute for another 2-3 minutes until vinegar has soaked into onions.
• Remove from heat. Store in air tight container for up to one week.

CARAMELIZED ONION-AND-GARLIC KETCHUP

Steps:

• Heat oil in small skillet on medium heat. Add onions and pepper; simmer on medium-low heat 15 min. or until onions are golden brown, stirring occasionally and adding garlic after 10 min. Cool.
• Spoon onion mixture into medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients; mix well.

PAN-FRIED ONION DIP

Steps:

• Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds.
• (You will have about 3 cups of onions.) Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
• Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized.
• Allow the onions to cool.
• Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth.
• Add the onions and mix well.
• Taste for seasonings.
• Serve at room temperature.