The French termamuse bouche(which means "amuse the mouth") describes tiny appetizers that are served with drinks to awaken the palate. One such complimentaryamuse bouchethat we serve out Chanterelle clients as they sip their aperitifs and look over the menu is these little fritters, which come with a slightly exotic Tamarind Dipping Sauce. The restaurant staff likes them, too: After a long, late shift, when we often have snacks before we clean up and go home, we can't resist indulging in the fritters, although we usually dip them in hot sauce since there's rarely any Tamarind Dipping Sauce left in the kitchen.
Sweet Vidalia onions are harvested in the spring and are best at that time, when they're freshest. They can be found the rest of the year for as long as the supply lasts. If you can't find Vidalias, try another sweet onion like Maui (Hawaii) or Walla Walla (Washington). At other times of year you could use Spanish onions as a substitute.
Ingredients
Makes enough for a crowd (35-40 fritters)
Step 1
1. Place 1 3/4 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to mix.
Step 2
2. Place 2 cups of the milk, the eggs, vinegar, and hot sauce in another bowl and whisk until blended, then pour into the flour mixture and whisk until just blended; do not overmix. Stir in the sliced onions and let the batter rest for 30 minutes. It should be slightly thicker than heavy cream. If it isn't, sprinkle in a little more flour. If it's too thick, add a little more milk. The batter should look somewhat free-form, not doughy.
Step 3
3. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting.
Step 4
4. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 4 inches into a large, heavy saucepan and heat to 375°F on a deep-fry thermometer. Drop the onion fritter batter into the hot oil by the tablespoonful, a few at a time, and fry, turning once, until the fritters are golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes in all. The fritters will have an irregular, spiderlike look, with a few loose pieces of onion escaping here and there. Check a fritter by breaking it open to see if the center Is cooked; it it still seems unset, cook 1 minute more. Drain on paper towels. Place the fritters in the oven to keep warm while you finish frying them all. Serve on a doily-lined platter or in a lined woven basket accompanied by the dipping sauce in one or more bowls.
Copyright 2000 by David Waltuck and Melicia Phillips
Used by Permission of Workman Publishing Co. Inc., New York
All Rights Reserved
No Portion of this Publication May be Reproduced Without Written Permission of Workman
Leave a Review
Reviews (4)
Back to Topalthough i did not make this recipe exactly (no, i am not usually one of those people) and rarely write reviews, i did use the base (flour, milk, eggs, powder and vinegar) for a fritter with sweet potato, fennel and sweet onion. it was so fantastically tender i had to give it a rating!
Anonymous
cincinnati, oh
2/27/2013
Fabulous. Made exactly as recipe follows.
Anonymous
7/17/2010
I made this as an appitizer for Rosh Hashana. We are not Kosher. It was a big hit and I loved the dipping sauce that goes with it.
Anonymous
denver, co
12/31/2008
I made these recently for just my husband and myself using the chili sauce in the batter and we loved them. However, I didn't use the Tamarind Dipping Sauce which I'm sure is what makes these different. I just had on hand a sauce that had mayo, italian seasoning, buttermilk, garlic powder, red wine vinegar, and grated onion in it. I am going to make it again this weekend for company to serve with paninis.
Anonymous
Dallas, TX
10/21/2008
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