Recipe of the Week: Walla Walla Sweet Onion Rings

When a co-worker gave me two medium sized home-grown Walla Walla sweet onions, I knew in an instant what I wanted to do with them.

The exact origin of onion rings is unclear, but in 1933 a recipe for deep-fried onion rings appeared in a Crisco advertisement in the New York Times Magazine.  One claimant to the invention of rings is the Kirby's Pig Stand in Oak Cliff, Texas in the early 1920's.  The once thriving chain who in its heyday had over 40 locations also claims to be the inventor of Texas Toast.

I've always thought that deep frying anything required special pans, an expensive deep fryer or safety procedures.  While all are practical, making good onion rings at home is quite easy.  Follow the steps and get your fry sauce handy!

Enjoy!
Stacy

Onion Rings (slightly adapted from Food Lab)

Ingredients:

2 large onions, cut in 1/2 inch rounds

2 quarts peanut oil

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 cup light beer (PBR, Budweiser, Corona), ice cold

1/4 cup 80 proof vodka

Kosher salt

Directions:

Seperate the onion rounds into individual rings.  Place in a gallon sized zipper lock bag and put them in the freezer until they are completely frozen (at least an hour, but you can store for up to 30 days).

When you are ready to cook them, remover rings from freezer bag, transfer to a bowl and thaw them under tepid running water.  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel or several layers of paper towels and dry the rings thouroughly.  Carefully peel off the inner papery membrane from each ring and discard.  Set aside.

Preheat the oil to 375 in a large wok or dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, paprika and garlic powder in a medium bowl and whisk together.  Combine the beer and the vodka in a small bowl.

Slowly add the beer mix to the flour mix, whisking constantly until the batter has a texture similar to thick paint.  The batter should leave a trail if you drip it back into the bowl off the whisk (note - you may not need all the beer mix). Do NOT over mix.  A few lumps are fine.  

Dip one onion ring into the batter, making sure that all surfaces are coated.  Lift out, letting the excess batter drip off and add to the hot oil bu slowly lowering it in with your fingers.  Repeat until 1/3 of the rings at a time are in the oil.

Fry, flipping the rings halfway through the cooking, until they are golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Transfer the rings to a large mixing bowl lined with paper towels and poss while sprinkling with salt. You can them place rings on a parchment lined baking sheet and keep hot in a 200F oven which you fry the rest of the rings.