i am a food blog

Are you guys Stanley Cup fans? I have vivid memories of me as a kid, staying up late, watching the playoffs. I didn’t really understand the intricacies of the game – I still don’t, but I did know that when the puck went into the net, it was time to cheer. The gameplay didn’t matter to me so much, it was more the fact that my whole family hung out together, in the family room, glued to Hockey Night in Canada, united by our love for the game.

As a Canadian, hockey is part of our culture. Growing up in Edmonton, ice skating was practically curriculum at school and in the summer, everyone, me included, played street hockey. So, it should come as no surprise to you that Stanley Cup parties are a thing. A looooooong time ago, when the Canucks were in the Playoffs, I threw a cereal party where at first, we watched old school cartoons, but once it was time for the game, we switched over.

I really don’t throw Stanley Cup parties often, just because I’m kind of a fair weather fan. It’s bad, I know, but winning is so much fun and losing, well, isn’t. But, at least with this Stanley Cup onion ring tower, you’re going to be winning no matter what!

Onion rings are the perfect thing to eat while watching the game. They’re savory, crunchy, and perfectly dippable. I’m kind of obsessed with towers of onion rings and Mike came up with the brilliant idea of arranging the tower into a Stanley Cup shape. I didn’t think it was going to work out, with the precariousness of onion ring shapes and all, but Mike did an excellent job of engineering a Stanley Cup onion ring tower. I was seriously impressed!

I was also impressed by how easy it was to use the Vitamix to whip up a spicy jalapeño aioli for dipping. Usually I make my aioli by hand, with a whisk, but with this spicy guy I wanted the jalapeño to be blended in. The aioli whipped up in a flash. The onion rings, on the other hand, take a little bit of babying, but are so, so worth it. They’re based off of a J. Kenji López-Alt recipe. If you’ve never tried one of his recipes, you should – he puts a lot of testing and science behind his cooking theories and his recipes, if you follow them to a T, (almost) always work out.

Speaking of following recipes to T, if you want to win a Vitamix so you can make the jalapeño aioli, you can, right here! I teamed up with Vitamix to giveaway one Vitamix 5200 to one lucky reader.

To Enter: Leave a comment below with your favorite snack/meal to eat while watching the game. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and notify them through email. Open to Canadian and US residents only. (Sorry international friends!) Contest ends Monday, June 6th (Game Four!) at 12pm PST. Please be patient as it may take me a while to approve comments. Good luck!

The giveaway is closed! I’ll be announcing the winner in the next week or so after reading through all of the comments. Thank you everyone who entered! There are some awesome snacks here!

Congrats Kelsey – you’ve won a Vitamix 5200! Keep your eyes peeled for an email from me :)

Beer Battered Onion Rings Recipe slightly adapted from The Food Lab
serves 4 generously
prep time: 1 hour, including freezing
active time: 45 minutes
total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

• 2 large onions, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• 2 quarts high heat oil, such as grapeseed
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 cup light beer, ice-cold
• 1/4 cup 80-proof vodka
• kosher salt

Separate the onions into rings, place in a freezer bag and freeze until completely frozen, about 1 hour. Freezing the onions helps break down the cells so that the onions is tender and doesn’t pull out of the batter when you bite.

When it’s time to fry, remove the onions from the freezer and thaw under running water. Peel off the papery membrane inside each ring, and place on paper towels to dry.

Over medium-high heat, preheat the oil to 375°F in a large deep sided pan. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and soda. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the beer and vodka.

Slowly add the beer mix to the flour, whisking gently. Do not overmix – small lumps are okay. Dip onions into the batter, making sure it is evenly coated. Gently lower into the oil. Repeat until there are several rings in the oil.

Fry, flipping halfway, until deeply golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack. Sprinkle with salt to taste and enjoy immediately with jalapeño aioli.

Jalapeño Aioli Recipe
makes about 1 cup aioli
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3 minutes
total time: 5 minutes

• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 jalapeno
• 1 cup neutral oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the egg yolks and lemon juice into the Vitamix container. Turn the machine on and slowly increase the speed.

With the machine running, remove the lid plug and drop in the garlic and jalapeño, blending until smooth.

Slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream, until thick, creamy and emulsified.

Remove from the container and season with salt and pepper.

beerjalapenoonions