I actually don’t think I’ve ever been to Outback Steakhouse — in spite of my father’s ringing endorsement. Seriously, he loves that joint. Probably because the rise of the Outback on the corner coincided with my move to New York, so I missed the Australian revolution. But when my husband and I were discussing fun things to make gluten-free last night, I said, “How about a Bloomin’ Onion?!” in a really crazy accent. Thus, this situation. I made a gluten-free bloomin’ onion.
So the hard part about making a bloomin’ onion is cutting it up properly and making it bloom. The batter is your basic flour and spice mix, and I used that amazing Better Batter seasoned gluten-free flour and just added a smidge of spices on top to make it freaking delicious. The dipping sauce apparently is crucial in this treat and it was also very WT — what with the mayo and ketchup combo. Yet, I found myself digging it. And it was super easy to whip up.
Before you start following the instructions from the recipe below, I want to show you some examples of onion cutting. Here’s the slicing it 3/4 part:
I did not turn it 90 degrees, but if your math skillz are more badass than my own, please follow the instructions to a t. Otherwise, cut 1/2 to 1 inch off each end, remove the papery outside, remove the core, then slice downward about 3/4 of the way, and then spread those onion wings like so:
Or even more so, as mine clumped a little bit. But I was scared to break it, or something, so I wasn’t as aggressive with that onion as perhaps I should have been. We all have regrets.
But I don’t regret frying the crap out of this thing and serving it up. My husband actually said, “This is the best thing you have made — ever.” But you should keep in mind that this is a guy who thinks salad is a meal and tries to be healthy and stuff. If you give him fried food, he’ll do anything for you. ANYTHING. Needless to say, I won’t be picking dog poop up out of the backyard this week.
But yeah, it was rad. You can do it too: Continue reading
