Bloomin’ Onion with Creamy Chili Sauce Dip
Ingredients
4 Vidalia or Texas Sweet Onions
Batter:
1/3 C. Cornstarch
1 1/2 C. Flour
2 tsp. Garlic — minced
2 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
24 oz. Beer
Seasoned Flour:
2 C. Flour
4 tsp. Paprika
2 tsp. Garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
Directions
Mix cornstarch, flour, and seasonings until well blended. Add beer, mix well.
Cut about 3/4″ off top of onion and peel. Cut into onion 12 to 16 vertical wedges, but do not cut through bottom root end.
Remove about 1″ of petals from center of onion. Dip onion in seasoned flour and remove excess by shaking. Separate petals and dip in batter to coat thoroughly.
Gently place in fryer basket and deep-fry at 375 to 400 1 1/2 minutes.
Turn over, and fry an additional 1 1/2 minutes.
Drain on paper towels.
Place onion upright in shallow bowl and remove center core with circular cutter or apple corer. Serve hot with Creamy Chili Sauce.
Creamy Chili Sauce:
1 pint Mayonnaise
1 pint Sour cream
1/2 C. Chili sauce
1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
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Tomato Green Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
2 teaspoons butter or stick margarine
6 cups chicken broth
1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups diced fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large saucepan, saute onion and carrots in butter for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, beans and garlic; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 5 minutes longer.
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Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry
Game Plan: 
Marinate the chicken while you prepare the rest of the ingredients
1 pound chicken breast (about 2 breasts), cubed
3 scallions, whites only, thinly sliced on an angle
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
About 1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 to 6 cups broccoli, trimmed sliced stalks and medium florets (keep the 2 cuts separate)
3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
Garnish: toasted sesame seeds, optional
Serving suggestion: Jasmine rice
In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the scallion whites, about half the garlic and ginger, the soy sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, 1 teaspoon of the salt, the sherry, and the sesame oil. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mix the remaining cornstarch with 1/3 cup water.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat. Add the broccoli stems, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the florets and the remaining garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons of water, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir-fry until the broccoli is bright green but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Get the skillet good and hot again, and then heat 2 more tablespoons oil. Add the chicken and chili flakes if using. Stir-fry until the chicken loses its raw color and gets a little brown, about 3 minutes.
Add the hoisin sauce, return the broccoli to the pan and toss to heat through. Stir in the reserved cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. Add more water if need to thin the sauce, if necessary.
Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like. Mound the stir-fry on a serving platter or divide among 4 plates and garnish with sesame seeds; serve with rice.
Notes: The garlic and ginger can be chopped together in a minichopper to save time.
Scallion greens can also be used to garnish, if you like that extra onion-y flavor and you want to use up the scallions.
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Vegetable Stir Fry
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Original Blend
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced diagonally
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups fresh, sliced mushrooms
6 ounces snow peas
1 small tomato, cut into wedges
1 small white onion
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic
Heat oil and Mrs. Dash Original Blend over high heat. Add carrots and broccoli, cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add mushrooms and snow peas, and onion, then cook for 2 more minutes. Add tomato wedges, red wine vinegar and garlic, stir for another minute or until vegetables are tender-crisp.
**You may add or substitute whatever vegetables you like; other good vegetables to add would be bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant or bok choy. You could add your favorite noodles as well. You could get very creative with this simple yet delicious stir fry.
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Hearty Chicken Stew
4 small onions, quartered
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
2 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed
Handful thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ pounds red bliss potatoes, washed and quartered
2 handfuls of green beans, trimmed
3 to 4 boxes of low sodium chicken broth
In a large pot, combine onions, garlic, carrots, chicken and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth to cover. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Skim and discard any scum that may come to the top.
Simmer until meat of the chicken falls off the bone with almost no pressure from a fork, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate. Use 2 forks to separate the meat from the bone. Add the meat back to the pot.
Add the potatoes, cook until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Add green beans, cook until crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, salt and pepper to taste.
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