Burger Booster

I came up with this on the fly last week when PB and I were making burgers one evening after I got home from a late shift at work. Actually it was Easter Sunday. I worked a split shift that day from 6:45am-12:15pm and then back there from 5-9pm. Easter was cruel and inflicted a wind/snow storm on me so that when I left the house at 6:15am, the truck was covered in snow which continued to blow sideways as I cleared it and none of the roads were ploughed either. By lunchtime it was all but gone and seeing as no one else was up at that hour, I felt like I was the only one bearing the brunt of the storm. After the end of a very long day by the time I got home (for the 2nd time) it was almost 10pm (as you will see from the oven clock in one of the pics) but we were both starving and I wanted something to pump up my burger but didn't have an hour to make the caramelised onions I usually have on the side. I love shallots and lately have been making a point of having them in the fridge at all times. I put them in salad dressings, chopped up in burgers, as a coating for roasted meats and vegetables and now as a crispy garnish.

This was simple to do:
1) Slice the shallots into either rings or strips and separate out all the rings.
2) Dredge in a mix of flour (I used spelt flour here) seasoned and spiced however you like. I used salt, pepper and garlic powder.


3) Heat canola oil in a large pan. You want about 1/2cm depth of oil for shallow frying here.
4) Test the temp of the oil by sacrificing a piece of shallot to the pan. If it sizzles right away, it's ready.
5) Shake excess flour off shallots and add to pan. They don't take long, maybe 2-3 mins to go brown and crispy. Keep stirring so they cook evenly.
6)Remove from pan and shake off oil. Drain on paper towel if you have it. I didn't so these were just shaken and put in the dish.

Mmmm crispy and delicate all at once...melt in your mouth yummy.