A Blue Cheese Dip for my Stout Hearted Onion Rings

Blue Cheese...you either love it or hate it. There is no "in-between" in this love affair.  People(like me) who love blue cheese will have it with and on everything, like Blue Cheese and Mushroom on Ciabatta, Blue Cheese Quiche, Butternut Gnocchi with sage and Blue Cheese, heck even the salads are dressed with a creamy blue cheese dressing. I think the most "talked-about recipe" I ever tried with Blue Cheese was the Rosti with Caramelized Pears and Blue Cheese. That was quite a show stopper, almost like the recipe I am about to share with you.....

When I saw Ina Carten prepare this Green Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing in one of her shows, I knew I had to make it, but unlike her, I wanted to try and use it as a dip rather than a salad dressing. The ultimate question was, "What can I make to dunk into this most deliciously creamy dip?"



Well, inspiration comes from the most unexpected places and my inspiration came from a song I heard on Sunday night at a choral performance I attended. The male voice choir sang a song called "Stout-Hearted Men", This song comes from an operetta called "The New Moon", with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. This song has been in my head ever since Sunday and when I saw the bottle of Castle Milk Stout that I got from my FBI2011 goodiebag, inspiration struck and I knew exactly what to make..... Beer-battered Onion rings of course! One word of warning though! This is not exactly a Weight Watchers or Weigh less recipe, but as a scrumptious treat now and then, I cannot see the harm.





Blue Cheese Dip



Ingredients

100gr blue Cheese, I used Fairview  Blue Tower

½ cup( 125ml) good quality mayonnaise

½ cup(125ml) thick Greek Yogurt

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

salt to taste

a good few grindings of black pepper - about ¼ tsp



Method

Crumble the cheese and place in your food processor with all other ingredients. Blitz until you have a thick creamy consistency. Refrigerate until needed.



Stout-Hearted Onion Rings



Ingredients

2-3 very big onions

1 cup self-raising flour

salt

1 x 340ml Castle Stout(any other beer will also do, the stout gives a rich brown color)

vegetable oil for frying



Method



Mix self-raising flour with salt and beer in a mixing bowl. It must be a thickish, lumpy batter, something like runny porridge(if too thick, add a little ice water or if it is too runny, add a little more flour) Peel and slice the onions in thick slices and loosen the onion rings. Throw all the onion  rings into the batter and mix until all the rings are coated. Heat the oil in a deep pan(I use my wok) and when the oil is hot, (test with a piece of bread) slowly drop the onion rings into the batter. When they are golden brown on the one side, turn once and when done, remove with a slotted spoon and place on some paper toweling. Serve immediately with the Blue Cheese Dip!

PS. This is one for the big boys, so girls if you want to impress, this is the recipe to try. It will knock his socks off!



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