Roasted Onion, Seared Steak, and Onion Rings

Recipe: Roasted Onion, Seared Steak, and Onion Rings
Page: 44
Date Cooked: January 20, 2012

Let's just say that this recipe isn't for the onion fearing people out there. There is roasted onion, onion in the crème fraîche, and onion rings - a trio of onion flavor. It definitely makes for one pretty looking starter though.

Ingredients: Red onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, all-purpose flour, lager, eggs, white onion, milk, corn oil, sea salt, filet mignon, crème fraîche, and cumin seeds

Roasted onion is the first term in the recipe and so that is what I worked on first. I coated the unpeeled red onions with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I put them in the oven to roast until the onions were tender. Afterward, I set the onions aside to cool.

Roasting whole unpeeled red onions

In the meantime, I began prepping for the optional onion rings. I whisked flour, salt, beer, and egg yolks together to create the batter. I set the batter aside till I was ready to fry. I sliced the white onion into rings, placed them in milk, and put the bowl aside.

Left: Onion ring batter
Right: Onions in milk

I proceeded to slicing the filet mignon and coating each piece of meat in olive oil. I placed the meat between two sheets of plastic wrap and pounded out till thin. I put the meat on a plate and into the fridge it went until cooking time.

Pounded out filet mignon

I peeled the roasted onions and popped out the center. I chopped the center of the onion and combined it with crème fraîche. While I chopped, I had cumin seeds roasting lightly in pan. I ground the cumin seeds and added it to the crème fraîche mixture.

1. Hollowed out roasted onion 2. Toasting cumin seeds 3. Crème fraîche mixture 

I heated a dry cast-iron skillet and seared the beef over medium-high heat for just a few minutes. I also beat the egg whites into the beer batter and proceeded to make the onion rings. With the oil heated, I removed the onions from the milk, coated them in the batter, and deep-fried until golden brown. I salted the onion rings with sea salt.

Searing the beef

Finally, I rolled the slices of beef and placed them into the hollowed out roasted onion. I then spooned the crème fraîche mixture on top of the beef. I then served it alongside a few onion rings.

Roasted Onion, Seared Steak, and Onion Rings

JW's onion rings - flawless. Perfectly crispy, perfect amount of seasoning, and cooking times were on point. And oh my goodness... that crème fraîche mixture - amazing! I love the taste of cumin and it just went so incredibly well with the beef and the roasted onion. I couldn't get enough of that crème fraîche mixture. I will say it was a little more difficult than I though to pop out the center of the roasted onion. Also, I couldn't get the beef into a perfect roll and may have needed to pound it out a little more. But, all in all, a pretty good starter. And it looks pretty cool too.

Enjoy!