Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Whats for dinner?

Rib Eye Steaks with Parsley Butter and Cornmeal Onion Rings


Before I left for Cleveland, I had gone to bed early and Jamie had stayed up late unable to sleep. he got busy cleaning house. I came downstairs in the morning to a sparkling Kitchen and I noticed one of my cookbooks was out and open to a certain recipe. Rib eyes with homemade cornmeal onion rings. So I laughed to my self and decided to make him that meal for dinner. My Friend Amelia had given me tons of fresh parsley so I made a parsley butter. I think It turned out yummy. I need to work on my onion ring skills. They were not perfect but it was fun to try something new. I got the recipe from Ina Gartens Family Cookbook

You need:a large Spanish onion

buttermilk-

1 cup coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

all purpose flour 3/4 cup

1/8 cup of medium yellow cornmeal

2-3 cups vegetable oil
Peel the onion and slice it 1/2" thick, and separate it carefully into rings. Put the butter milk in a smallish bowl, add salt and pepper, and soak the onion rings in the mix for awhile- preferably an hour or two. In another smallish bowl, mix the flour and cornmeal, and add some salt and pepper, and the paprika if you use it . When you are ready to go-preheat the oven to 200F. (Right away- you're not finishing something else in any 200F oven, so the rest of the dinner had better be top of the stove stuff.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
Now, stick a candy thermometer in a dutch oven or similar deep sturdy pot, add the oil and heat to 350F. Have some tongs and the baking sheet at hand, as well as the 2 bowls and a dish of coarse salt. Take about 1/3 of the onion rings out of the buttermilk, dredge in the flour (you can do this with one of your clean hands-keep the other, preferably the dominant hand, dry for tong wrangling), and drop gently in the oil. Fry for about 2 minutes, turning once with the tongs. Extract with tongs, and lay out on the paper towel cover pan. Sprinkle with salt.Check the temperature, adjust the heat accordingly, and do the rest in 2 batches.These guys will stay warm and crisp for 30 minutes while you frantically get the rest of dinner ready.


For the Rib eyes, I just salt and peppered them with coarse salt and pepper, and let them sit until they were room temperature before cooking. Then after Grilling I let them stand for about 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute then I topped each one with a slab of parsley butter.

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