Many people are not neutral on the subject of battered, fried onion rings. There are two main camps: people who don’t like onions and people who’d choose onion rings over fries any day.

We’re in the latter camp. We could make a meal of onion rings, ketchup and beer. Burgers or other protein only fill us up, so we can’t enjoy as many onion rings.

Yet, more often than not, we’re disappointed with the onion rings served up at restaurants.

Unless it’s a very good restaurant, the onion rings are more often than not soggy rather than crispy. We suspect they’re frozen onion rings that have been fried once and then briefly refried to heat them up before delivery to our table. The batter has no crunch; the onions and batter are equally tasteless.

At the most popular “deluxe” burger restaurant in town, we got crispy onion rings—but not flavorful ones. Doesn’t anyone believe in seasoning? Thank goodness for the ketchup.

The solution to enjoying delicious, hot and crunchy onion rings is to make them yourself. It’s simple; it’s just a bit time consuming to cut and separate all the rings, dredge them twice and fry them.

But the weekend is upon us. We’ve got an extra half hour, as well as a fridge full of craft beer and gourmet ketchup. We’ll make buttermilk and cornmeal-battered onion rings (the recipe in the video) on Saturday and substitute panko (Japanese bread crumbs) for the cornmeal on Sunday.

Here’s a video cooking demonstration showing how easy it is to make onion rings. The seasonings include salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, and if you want more of a kick, optional hot sauce.

If you want company, ask friends to bring the beer. It’s more than an even exchange for fresh, crisp onion rings.

For an extra treat, pick up a special ketchup. We’re hooked on the Chipotle Ketchup and Curry Ketchup from Montebello Kitchens.

Review: Our favorite ketchups (we tasted 50 of them!).

Novel dessert: cream cheese, marshmallow
creme and kiwi in a mango wrap. Photo
courtesy New Gem Foods.

It’s a wrap—a dessert wrap, that is.

Sandwich wraps have swept the country by storm. Instead of two slices of bread, many people prefer to roll their favorite sandwich fixings in a large tortilla.

You can roll dessert fillings in the same manner to make a dessert wrap: sweetened ricotta with chocolate shavings (instead of a cannoli), bananas, fruit salad and yogurt.

A few years ago we published dessert tortilla recipes made with Tumaro’s dessert-flavored tortillas: Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, Chocolate and Pineapple. Alas, these flavors have been discontinued. Not enough customers got the message.

You can use a regular tortilla—a thin, honey-flavored tortilla, if you can find a package. But there’s another option.

NewGem Foods makes alternative sushi wraps, called Origami Sushi Wraps. Originally intended for people who don’t like the traditional nori (seaweed) wraps, they’re made by dehydrating fresh fruits and vegetables.

Time to make dessert wraps! It couldn’t be easier.

Marshmallow Mango Cone Recipe
Makes approximately 100 small cones. Cones can be prepared an hour in advance and refrigerated.

Ingredients

*The first frozen yogurt, soft serve Frogurt, was introduced in New England in the 1970s by dairy company H. P. Hood. In 1978, Boston ice cream chain Brigham’s introduced the first packaged frozen yogurt, called Humphreez Yogart. Around this same time, Dannon introduced another packaged frozen yogurt product called Danny.

As everything old is new again, Pinkberry and Red Mango have led the renaissance of tart frozen yogurt.

The “newcomers” are advertising their frozen yogurt as probiotic and a good source of calcium, which is to say, healthier frozen yogurt.

So TCBY did what any company would do: It reformulated most of its Fro-Yo yogurt flavors to have a healthier profile.

Super Fro-Yo is also higher in protein, vitamins A and D and calcium, and it includes seven types of probiotic bacteria. Plus, the fiber in Super Fro-Yo also serves as a “prebiotic,” or food for the healthful probiotic bacteria in the yogurt. Prebiotics increase the number of live and active cultures—a minimum of 20 billion at the point of manufacture. (Learn more about prebiotics and probiotics.)

A four-ounce serving of Super Fro-Yo has fewer than 120 calories, at least 10% of the recommended daily value (DV) of vitamin A and 20% of the recommended DV of vitamin D. Even though fro-yo is made from milk/yogurt, each serving has less than 1 gram of saturated fat. In addition, each serving provides 3 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein.

Traditional flavors include Cake Batter, Cheesecake, Chocolate, Fat-Free Dutch Chocolate, Golden Vanilla, Old-Fashioned Vanilla, Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse. The chain will continue to carry the regular versions of TCBY yogurt in popular flavors that can’t meet Super Fro-Yo standards, such as the higher-calorie Peanut Butter.

The chain will continue to carry no sugar-added, nonfat yogurt and dairy-free sorbets.

Super Fro-Yo is now available at TCBY’s 440 domestic locations. Find a TCBY store near you.
  

Grilling favorites: Defrost them correctly
for the juciest results. Photo courtesy
Allen Brothers.

Many of us purchase meat in advance and freeze it. There are different meat thawing techniques: on the counter at room temperature, under running water and in the microwave.

But the best and safest way to thaw meat is in the fridge. Cuts for the grill will thaw in 24 hours or less (a general guideline is 5-6 hours per pound).

Slow thawing:

How To Thaw Meat
Take the meat from the freezer, keep it in its wrapping and place it in a baking dish for the thawing process. You could use a plate, but a dish will catch raw meat juices that can drip on (and contaminate) other foods. Rinse the meat under cold water and pat dry before seasoning and cooking.

Food Safety
Bacteria grow most rapidly in the “Danger Zone,” the range of temperatures between 40°F and 140°F. They can double in number in as few as 20 minutes.

That’s why the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline advises us never to leave food out of refrigeration for more than two hours. If the temperature is above 90°F, food should not be left out for more than one hour.

If you have specific questions, call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1.888.MPHotline (1.888.674.6854), or email mphotline.fsis@usda.gov.

Also from the USDA: How Temperature Affects Food.

More ways to celebrate National Barbecue Month.

Our favorite barbecue sauce is sold on TheNibbleGourmetMarket.com: Grandville’s—so thick it’s called a “barbecue jam” instead of a barbecue sauce.

It’s a great gift for Father’s Day, in either a two-pack or all six flavors.

Use promo code DAD2011 to get a 10% discount at checkout.

For Dad, there are:

 
Just enter promotion code DAD2011 at checkout to receive your discount. The promotion is valid through June 30, 2011.

While you’re buying for Dad, you can pick up a treat for yourself.

And share the code with food-loving friends.

TheNibbleGourmetMarket.com