I'm sure it isn't news to any readers that I'm weird. To confirm that, I'm devoting this post to my joy over onions.
Thanksgiving dinner was one of my favorite meals to make...until I could no longer eat gluten.
My first Thanksgiving I tried to go with nontraditional recipes. Red quinoa pilaf instead of stuffing, caramelized green beans and shallots instead of green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust instead of the traditional dough crust. The recipes were tasty but my family, guests, and I all preferred the good old standbys.
Last year I went back to the traditional foods with gluten free substitutions, including purchased GF pie crusts and stuffing made with a couple loaves of GF bread.
I also tried to make one of my faves, green bean casserole, GF friendly. Instead of cream of mushroom soup I made a roux with butter and GF flour then added milk and simmered till I had the desired amount and thickness. However, frying my own onions turned into an epic, messy fail. I hate to fry anything and the charred bits of onion I had proved my disdain.
This year as Thanksgiving was approaching I started to search for recipes for GF French fried onions. Everything I found online suggested the same method of frying on the stove or using a baked onion ring snack that rhymes with bunion, which doesn't appeal to me.
Then last week as I was making oven baked chicken parmesan for my family it hit me...bake the onions! Tonight I tried it and, to my absolute delight, it worked.
So, though many of you who read this don't have to eat GF, I wanted to share. It can also be used with regular wheat flour if you want to avoid the chemicals and preservatives you get with purchased fried onions.
1/3 cup GF all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
4 medium onions
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbls olive oil
Preheat oven 450°. Place flour and salt in large zip top plastic bag and mix well. Slice onions in half then into 1/8" slices. Separate the onion layers and soak in milk for 5 minutes tossing often to coat. Drain off the milk and place the onions in with the flour. Zip close and shake well to coat. Drizzle half of the oil onto a jelly roll pan. Spread the oil around so the pan is well coated. Spread the onions on the pan in an even layer. Drizzle the remaining oil on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Flip the onions every 5 minutes and remove once golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Use just like purchased fried onions.
I can't wait to chow down on some green bean casserole!
