Scraps and Snippets ~ Spicey Dicey Onion Rings and Frying Pan Factoids

Taking another break from posting puppies. I don't know why anyone would not want to look at the sweet puppies all day long, but I digress. 

A few months ago an author I Linked-In'd with, Nancy Jarvis, contacted me about a cookbook she was putting together. Nancy had the cool idea of gathering recipes from different cozy mystery authors. 

Because Michelle and I have an upcoming release (without a date, or...ummm exact publisher yet, the wheels turn veeerrrry slowly sometimes) she asked if we wanted to submit a few recipes. 

I asked Michelle. What would it hurt? We need a few recipes for the book anyway because Zula is an amazing cook who can whip up some mean dishes. But it turned out the deadline for recipe submission was looming and there was a whole lot of food mentioned in Out of the Frying Pan. I asked Michelle to send me dish names. (Zula names all her signature dishes.) Michelle tossed out the appetizer from a dinner party fail. (Well, the food didn't fail at all, unless you count the uneaten bombe when tension ramped up and sent everyone scurrying after their own agendas instead of toward dessert.) 

The appetizer winner? Spicey Dicey Onion Rings. Yum. And what did Michelle have in mind for this recipe? I asked her. "I don't know. I just liked the way it sounded," was her paraphrased response. "Make something up." So I did. And submitted it. We were able to submit two recipes and do a mini write-up of our character or a scene, etc. 

It was terribly fun. And the onion rings were off the charts. 

Here's the link to the cookbook. 

Here's one of our recipes. The write-up is on the sneak peek. Or it was when I looked. Some of the other recipes in the sneak peek looked pretty fabulous, too. Be sure to check it out.  

Spicey Dicey Onion Rings

1/3 Cup garbanzo bean flour (besan)

1/3 Cup water ( use 1/4 and add a 1/2 TBSP at a time until you get consistency for the batter you want, you may need less)

1/2 TBSP lemon pepper or lemon garlic blend or lemon peel/fried garlic

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (additional for cooked rings if desired)

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley

1/2 TBSP brown or yellow mustard

1/2 TBSP lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon of siracha sauce or pepper sauce of choice 

Mix dry ingredients until well mixed, add 1/4 cup of water to the wet ingredients and mix into the dry. Add more water if needed. You don't want watery nor so thick it's gooey. Just dippable. 

Slice a medium onion. 

Heat oil on a stove top or in a deep fryer. When hot add the dipped rings. When the rings are golden either flip if you don't have enough oil to cover the top of the onions or remove and place on paper towels to absorb the grease. Sprinkle with salt if desired.