Fry Cook at the Coney

I woke up late on Saturday. I planned on being at the hospital at 7:00 AM and getting that x-ray done. Instead, I stripped the bed and started the wash. I warmed up the last cup of coffee, sat on the couch and watched the day dawn. Then I made a fresh pot of coffee. I'll get the x-ray done on Tuesday, I guess.

I posted the Blog entry and then began to think about breakfast. I'm getting tired of eating leftovers. So, I made some white sausage gravy and biscuits. I browned the pork sausage until it was well done, then removed it with a slotted spoon. I added two tablespoons of flour to the rendered fat and whisked it for a couple of minutes (to cook off the flour taste). Then I whisked in two cups of milk and heated that to a boil (still whisking, BTW). I turned it to simmer and got out the biscuits from the fridge.

I put them onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and popped them into a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 15 minutes or so. I added the pork sausage back into the gravy and let it warm back up. When the biscuits were done, I split two of them, topped them with the sausage gravy and ate them at the table.

I got the laundry out of the dryer and made the bed. I put the rest of the biscuits into a Zip-Lock bag and the remainder of the white sausage gravy into a freezer container and into the fridge. Finally, at 12:30 PM, I took my shower! I got dressed and hit the road. I stopped at the bank and got some money out of my rapidly depleting savings account (groan). Then, I went to Westborn for some Brussels sprouts and a big, sweet onion. I admit I made two impulse buys: three pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes on sale and some parsnips (I LOVE parsnips, but you know that...)

Note to Melissa: Ellipsis, Babe, ellipsis!

There wasn't any wind and it was 54 degrees F., so I had the car window down driving home. The fresh air felt great! (Maybe you have to live in Michigan to appreciate this.) As such, before going home, I stopped at the quarter car wash and washed the car (for the first time in months. Since they paved my road, it just doesn't seem to get so dirty anymore.)

I pulled into the garage and went in to treat the cats (so they won't eat me if I am lucky enough to get a nap). I grabbed an old towel and went out to dry the car off (with the garage door open. The fresh air was great!) When I was done, I went out to get the mail. In it was my next year's license's tag, so I opened it up and stuck it on my fresh-cleaned plate. I'm legal now for another year!!

I lay on the bed and watched Food network shows, hoping for that nap. But, it never happened. So, at 4:00 PM, I went out and drained the last two hoses. I took them and the rain gauge inside and, other than the remaining gutters, that completes my winter preparations. Oh, crap! I never harvested the four cabbages!

But, since it was getting dark, I decided to make dinner instead of being Farmer John. I'm not sure why, but I have recently been thinking about eating at a Coney Island (maybe because I haven't been to a restaurant in so long). So, tonight I will be making Coney dogs and onion rings.

I put my two-burner griddle pan on the left side of the stove. I opened up a can of Hormel No-Bean chili, put it in a saucepan and put that on the back of the griddle pan. When it came up to heat, I started grilling the hot dogs, stirring the chili every now and then. When the hot dogs were done, I turned the burners off (the cast iron will keep them warm for quite a long time).

Next I poured about an inch of peanut oil in my biggest cast iron pan and turned that burner to medium (that proved to be too low, so I jacked it up to medium high). I peeled the big sweet onion and cut it into 3/4-inch slices. I separated the rings and anything that didn't end up as a beautiful "ring' got fine diced to top the dogs.

I set up the breading station: a bowl of one can evaporated milk and a pie plate filled with two cups of flour, a teaspoon of dried mustard, a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and two teaspoons of sweet paprika. I mixed that together and then got started...

I double dipped the onion rings; that is, I dipped them in the evaporated milk, then into the flour, then back into the milk and back into the flour. Then I put them into the hot oil in a single layer and fried them until golden brown (see Photos).

When they were done, I put them onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and immediately salted them. I didn't end up with nearly as much onion rings as I'd hoped (we Germans don't like imperfection) but I have a LOT of fine diced onions, lol!

I plated two hot dogs in buns, topped with chili and yellow mustard, and a bunch of onion rings (with ketchup for a dipping sauce) and wandered in to watch more TV. The hot dogs were just okay, but the onions rings were fantastic!

Oh, here's a tip: refrigerate your onions and the evaporated milk first. The colder the better for making these onions rings!

I put the remaining hot dogs and chili into the fridge and then went back to the TV until bedtime.