Onion Rings... that taste glorious... made on a whim... by someone who has never made beer batter... or onion rings before? Say WHAT?! But it's true.

  I'm not going to lie. Sometimes... I make recipes up as I go, and most of the time they come out okay and I enjoy the meal, but sometimes they don't work out so well and you end up with three very grumpy people (I currently live with my parents.) Other times though.... I end up with this amazing thing that makes me go "Where did that come from and can I do it again?".


These onion rings are one of those times. So I'll skip the introductory post and get right to the recipe, anything anyone wishes to know about me (that I'm willing to share) will be put into the profile section anyway right? :) So yeah here we go!


On a Whim Onion Rings!

Ingredients:

Roughly 1 1/2 cups of multi-purpose flour

Beer (I used Sapporo because I'm in love with Japan and when I found this at the grocery store I just HAD to get it.)
Black pepper (sprinkle to your liking, some people hate the stuff so go with your gut. I used about a teaspoon)
Cracked red pepper (again, gut instinct, I used about a teaspoon and a half here as well.)
Salt (Screw gut instinct, you don't want to die of heart failure right? Just use a pinch. It's meant to bring out flavor, not SEASON anything.)
annnnnd the magic ingredients:
Honey (a heaping tablespoonful!)
and Cardamom (I love the stuff so, I used it quite liberally. About 2 teaspoons and a half. If it's your first time trying this spice, use 2 teaspoons and grow with it.)

Ohhhh, but you, like, need onions and oil and stuff right? Yep, we do. Roughly 4 cups of oil to deep fry, and One nice big onion. I used a regular white onion. It might be nifty to try this recipe with pearl onions too.

What do we do with this STUFF now, Nina? Oh... well the DRY ingredients get DUMPED into a bowl, a nice deep bowl. Use a fork to stir the dry ingredients, making sure they're all nice and friendly with one another. Once it's nicely stirred and they're all high fiving eachother with the power of awesome flavorfulness, you're going to take them swimming... or binge drinking (but it's legal for them because they're spices and flour, they can't drive!), by pouring that nice beer into the mix. Be subtle, start with a bit at first because the beer WILL bubble up a bit in reaction to the pepper and salt. It's like chemistry but there's no pop quiz at the end of the class... maybe. Stir it up a bit and then add a little more, keep doing so until you get the consistency of pancake batter. We're not making pancakes though, so put away the syrup. Next, your tablespoon of honey gets DUNKED RIGHT INTO THE MIX. CANNONBALLLLLLL. Oh yeah, groovin with the spicessss, and thus, you have, your awesome slap your face with goodness beer batter a la Nina. As the batter sets, slice the onion into rings that are about an inch thick. Don't like math? Neither do I, so eyeball it, make it the width of a regular #2 school pencil or just a bit thicker than a chopstick.Avoid making them too thin or too thick because you want them to remain coated and to cook properly. Please be careful with your samurai sword as you slice these!

 I hope you remember your need of a rather deep pot. I don't do deep fryers (We live in an apartment... where would I KEEP one? The small ones feel too dangerous and the big ones... well it's an APARTMENT!), anyway, we need a pot. Pick a nice deep pot with a wide brim so that your can keep oil from splattering out but still have mobility for your onion ring and slotted spoon. First heat up the oil on high, (make sure that once the oil is hot you lower it to 6 on the number dial or if you have a button that says high, low, medium, medium high, that you have it on medium or medium high depending on how hot your burner actually gets.) Once you've adjusted the heat to medium (or 6), YOUR ONION RINGS WANT TO GO DIVING! Yes, this is correct, they wish to be dipped into that glorious batter, so help them along, dipping two at a time (separate them inside the bowl so they can both be properly coated) use a fork to lift them out, let the batter drip back into the bowl a bit, since splattering hurts, and then gently put them into the oil. They'll sink to the bottom at first, LEAVE THEM ALONE. They'll float up on their own once they've befriended the oil. Fry until each side is golden brown. Remember to flip them over once the batter has turned into a nice puffy breading type crust.


Once they're done, scoop them out with the slotted spoon, one at a time, and lay them on a paper towel covered plate.

 Once they've cooled down (if you can wait that long), EAT THEM. Yeah that's right, NOSH ON THEM LIKE YOU'VE NEVER NOSHED BEFORE.

Personally what I love about this recipe is the lack of mess, and the deliciousness that results from making them. They're so simple.

     The delicious result? Wooooo!

 heeeee! So happy!