Paleo Booze Battered Onion Rings and Fried Pickles

Booze Battered Onion Rings & Fried Pickles

This paleo recipe is a perfect addition to any game-day watch party spread.  Obviously, you can just make the onion rings or the fried pickles, but I assure you that you will want *both*. Game on!

Ingredients:

Battered onion rings/pickles:

·      1 sweet onion, such as Vidalia

·      1 pickle

·      2 egg whites

·      1 cup chickpea flour, plus 1/2 cup for dredging (chickplea flour is both grain free and gluten free)

·      1 cup of preferred cider (I love Virtue Rose Cider, which is sugar free)

·      Safflower, sunflower, peanut, or grapeseed oil

·      Optional: 2 cups buttermilk

·      1 tsp salt

·      1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Buttermilk dipping sauce:

·      1 cup mayonnaise (I strongly recommend homemade mayo—recipe is below)

·      1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (Trader Joes carries this)

·      1 tbsp Dijon, yellow, or whole grain mustard, or a mix of each

·      1 tsp smoked paprika

·      1 tsp sea salt
1 scallion

·      1 garlic clove

·      If using store-bought mayonnaise, the juice and zest of 1 lemon

Homemade mayonnaise ingredients (optional, but strongly recommended):

·      1 egg yolk (use a fresh egg for this)

·      1/4 tsp sea salt

·      1 lemon (I prefer meyer lemons, which are a touch sweeter)

·      1/4 cup safflower or grapeseed oil

·      1/4 cup olive oil

·      1 tbsp whole grain or Dijon mustard

Directions:

The buttermilk dipping sauce can be made the day before (or a few days before). Regardless, prepare this first. To make the dipping sauce, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the garlic clove in tinfoil and drizzle olive oil all around it. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and soft. Remove the garlic from the packet. If you are making the onion rings right away, lower the oven to 200 degrees.

Skip this step if using store-bought mayonnaise. If using homemade mayonnaise for the dipping sauce, combine the egg yolk, mustard, and sea salt in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat the ingredients over medium speed, and then begin adding the oil, a few drops at a time. Now increase the speed to high and continue adding the oil very slowly, just a few drops at a time. You should watch the mixture thicken before your eyes (i.e. emulsify). When the mixture begins to thicken, you can begin adding the remaining oil in a thin trickle. Do not just pour it all in at once or the mixture can split and you won’t have mayonnaise but instead something gross and unusable. : ( Once you have incorporated all of the oil into the mixture, it should be very thick and set. At this point, lower the speed to low and incorporate the zest and juice of 1 lemon. 

Note: you will not need to use the entire amount of homemade mayonnaise for this recipe. The leftover mayonnaise can be used in any recipe that calls for mayo.

To prepare the buttermilk dipping sauce, chop the scallion finely. Combine 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, the chopped scallion, and the roasted garlic clove. Also add the juice and zest of 1 lemon if using store-bought mayonnaise. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To prepare the onion rings, remove the outer dry skin of the onion and cut it into separate rings. Optional: soak the rings in 2 cups buttermilk for 1 hour.

Slice the pickles into round slices. If cooking immediately, dry the pickle slices with a paper towel. If not cooking immediately, return to the jar with the pickle juice until ready to cook.

Meanwhile, prepare the boozy batter. In the bowl of a standing mixer set with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium speed until peaks are just stiff. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of chickpea flour with the salt and paprika and whisk in the cider. Then gently fold one third of the egg whites into the flour mixture, taking care not to deflate the fluffy egg whites. Then, in thirds, continue gently folding the rest of the egg whites into the batter. The goal is to keep it as fluffy as possible.

Next, set up a three-part dredging system. Place the bowl of batter closest to the stovetop. Next to it, place the bowl of chickpea flour. Finally, next to that place a large empty bowl. Remove the onions from the buttermilk and place the onions and pickles in this final bowl.

When ready to fry, pour 1/4 inch of your chosen vegetable oil into a heavy, wide pan (or enough oil to cover the batter-coated onions and pickles) and heat over medium heat for at least 5 minutes. Test the heat by placing a drop of batter into the oil: it will bubble actively around the batter when it is hot enough.

Place a baking sheet nearby to place the fried onions and pickles.

When the oil is hot, dredge the onions and pickles, one by one, in the chickpea flour on both sides, shake off excess, then dip in the boozy batter on both sides. 

Then place the onions and pickles, one by one, into the hot oil. (As hot oil can burn, this is not an activity for children to assist with.) Add as many as you can to the pan while giving each item space. Fry each onion/pickle for about 2-3 minutes per side, until crisp and lightly golden brown.

When done, remove your booze battered treats with a metal slotted spatula and place them on the paper towel-covered rack or your baking sheet.

The onion rings and fried pickles can be placed on a baking sheet and kept in the 200 degree oven for up to 30 minutes to keep warm while you continue cooking the rest of the batch.

Now, crack open a hard cider (or beer) and enjoy!