Game Day & Gluten Free: Onion Petals

Best fried onion deliciousness I've ever had.  Perfectly golden brown with a tasty slice of sweet onion in the middle as a bonus, they just melt in your mouth.  They also have an incredible way of disappearing in front of your eyes.  Oh, and they're gluten free!  However, even if you're not gluten free, you will seriously love these onion petals.

What is a wonderful treat like onion petals if you don't have anything to dip them in?  I thought that these needed something extra special to be dipped in.  So, I made some special balsamic ketchup.  Sweet and savory, it tastes like barbecue sauce meet ketchup.  Ketchup is surprisingly a lot easier to make than you would think.

Ingredients for balsamic ketchup:

• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 onion
• 1/2 teaspoon jarred garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Steps

In a blender, puree the onion and the garlic together.

Add the vinegar, honey, tomato paste, fennel seeds, sugar, and salt, and blend.

Pour the ketchup into a medium sauce pan.

Cover and heat over low heat for 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and chill in the refrigerator.

Ingredients for onion petals:

• 1 cup Gluten Free Pantry Pizza Crust Mix
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder  
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup safflower oil
•  1 1/4 cup milk
• A dash of worcestershire sauce
• A dash of liquid smoke (optional)
• 1 cup rice or tapioca flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 medium sweet onion
• oil for frying (I used safflower)

Steps

Chop the onions into petals by cutting the onion in half, then cutting the half length wise, then cut the onion into chunks.

If you would prefer, you can cut the onion into rings.  Petals are just easier, and they're perfect for dipping and popping into your mouth.

In a small bowl, mix the tapioca or rice flour with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon chili powder.  Make sure it is well combined.

In a larger bowl combine the gluten free pantry mix, the baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add the egg, oil and milk.

Stir until smooth.

In your fryer, heat the oil to 350 degrees F.

Give the oil about 10 minutes to heat up.

Coat an onion slice first with the dry mixture, followed by the wet mixture.

The fryer that we have is on the smaller side, so I fry 4-5 petals at a time.

Once your coated petals are in the fryer, gently jiggle the handle to make sure all the pieces are separated.  You don't want all the pieces to be stuck together.

Put a pyrex dish into the oven on warm.

Leave the petals in the fryer until they reach a beautiful golden brown.

Carefully (because they're hot) dump them out into a dish lined with paper towels.

Once the petals have cooled a little bit, put them into the warm dish in the oven.  This will keep them nice and toasty until it is time to serve them.

Repeat this until your onion pieces have all been coated and fried.

Serve your onion petals and homemade balsamic ketchup as a compliment to your meal, or by themselves as a game day treat.