Issue #45 The Big Game. And The Big Stomach.
The Party
Did you have a Super Bowl Party?
I, myself, do not have much of a history with Super Bowl parties. I have only attended two that I can recall and have never hosted one.
To be fair, my total football watching has been pretty limited. I’m more of a baseball and basketball person. (Growing up in Indiana, if you didn’t watch basketball they escorted you to the state line and invited you to live elsewhere.)
So, a typical Super Bowl Sunday in my house is generally pretty similar to any other Sunday except the TV is tuned to the big game. I tend to listen to it peripherally whilst doing other activities and then settle in to watch the last four minutes of play.
The distinction “of play” is added because one of the reasons I don’t watch a lot of football is that it seems to go something like this:
A bunch of people run around pulling each other to the ground while the ball approaches the end zone at a rate of two yards per play. We see this happen two or three times. Then everything stops while a ruling gets made on one of the plays and they cut to commercials. LOTS of commercials. When the action resumes we are treated to another 3 minutes or so of excitement until someone doesn’t get back up and a medical team enters the field. More commercials.
And on. And on.
It just doesn’t excite me as a way to spend my time.
This year’s Super Bowl was different.
I don’t know why.
I found myself actually taking an interest in the big match-up. Maybe all the Taylor Swift hype got to me.
The night before, in an uncharacteristic move, I asked my husband if we should make some sort of special food for game day.
We agreed to take the plunge and that an appropriate menu should probably include fried stuff.
And I remembered one of my favorite dinners growing up – mom just called it “deep fried dinner”.
She would fire up something called a “Deep Fat Fryer”.
(It looked like this)
Out of the hot bubbling oil would come French fries, homemade onion rings, pieces of hot dog encased in some of the onion ring batter, and, to top things off, apple fritters. Or, if we were very lucky, “fake donuts” made from bits of Pillsbury “pop-n-fresh” biscuit dough fried up and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.
It was our favorite meal.
It was our favorite meal because we were young and our stomachs were garbage cans that could handle copious amounts of grease and salt.
Yesterday the hubby and I made Panko encrusted onion rings and shrimp and chicken. With ranch dressing and cocktail sauce for dipping. I felt we should have at least one dish unacquainted with hot oil and batter so I whipped up some garlic linguini as well. (Note– this was silly, we were so full from the rich fried foods there was no room for the linguini.)
Everything tasted sooooooo good.
While we were eating it.
About an hour later the reckoning began.
Today is still “iffy”.
Copyright© 2024 Anne Morse Hambrock All rights reserved.
In all seriousness - the food was terrific. If I happened to overindulge, I have only myself to blame :-) The onion rings were so fabulous that I’ve included the recipe for you down at the bottom of the newsletter.
While We Are On The Subject Of Healthy Eating (Not)
It looks as though Dottie’s chocolate chip cookie recipe has been a hit with readers!
Many of you have reached out to tell me you have made and enjoyed them. If you missed the recipe, check out newsletter #41 in which I included it.
The Best Homemade Onion Rings
This is the recipe for the onion rings we made yesterday - they were, hands down, the best we’ve ever tasted. Crispy - even the second day - and light and not too greasy. Don’t be put off by the number of steps - the end result is worth it.
I wish I knew where this recipe came from - I discovered it yesterday in a three-ring binder containing recipes I found on the internet god knows when.
Ingredients:
2 cups Canola or other vegetable oil for deep frying (more might be needed depending on the size whatever you will be frying in.)
1 large Vidalia onion (we just used a big ‘ol regular yellow onion)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup whole milk (we did not have any so we used almost a cup of half and half with some 2 percent milk added. It worked fine.)
1 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (NO SUBSTITUTIONS HERE - THE PANKO IS THE KEY INGREDIENT!)
In a deep 8 inch saucepan, or a dutch oven, or a small deep fryer, add the oil and heat to 365°.
Slice onion into 1/4 inch slices (across the onion), separate into rings and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and seasoned salt.
Dredge all the onion rings in the flour mixture until fully coated and set aside. (This seemed counterintuitive to us because the onions were not dipped in anything else first but we went with it and it worked out.)
In another bowl whisk together the egg and milk and add to the remaining flour mixture that was used for the dredging of the onion rings. Whisk until a creamy batter is formed. Not too thick - if too thick, add some milk to thin.
Place a wire rack on a sheet of aluminum foil (or a cookie sheet) to catch drippings.
Dip the flour coated onion rings into the batter to coat well.
Using a fork, remove the coated onion rings and place on the wire rack. Let all the excess batter drip off. About 1 minute.
Put the Panko bread crumbs in another mixing bowl.
Roll the onion rings in the Panko until thoroughly coated and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (I did not have any parchment but a sil-pat or silicone liner worked fine.)
Deep fry the onion rings in batches of 4 or 6. Turn them over to the other side when you can see that they are getting golden around the edges - they fry up pretty quick so keep an eye on them.
Drain them on paper towels and salt to taste.
Keep The Messages Coming!
A big “thank you” to all of you who have messaged me commented or hit “like” after reading my poems and commentary!
I appreciate the feedback and knowing how often I have struck a chord with your lives.
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