Making Homemade Onion Rings

Onion Rings?? REALLY??!!?? I know, not exactly healthy eating, but OK once in a while, in limited amounts. My family loves onion rings and often bake up a few frozen ones for eating alongside burgers and such. My mom used to fry up homemade ones every now and then, and I've always remembered them fondly, so I decided to try some myself. I did this YEARS ago and decided it was more trouble than it was worth, but forged ahead out of motherly love. The results were absolutely delish, and only a little trouble. Halfway through the frying process, dear husband came in to man the frying pan, because, Baby, IT'S HOT standing over one, dipping and turning! I even remembered to take some pictures along the way so you could see exactly how to do them!!

Homemade Onion Rings

First, start slicing some onions. Slice them about 1/4' thick and separate them into rings. Discard the very center of the onions and save them for another dish in a baggie. Lay them out in a single layer on paper towels and let them dry out a little while you prepare the batter. I tried to take a picture of them laid out on paper towels, but you could not see the onions against the white towels, so here is a representation for size.

Cut the onions kind of thick, like this.

The batter:

2/3 cup Bisquick

1 small egg

a few ounces of beer

Break the egg into the bottom of a shallow dish, wide enough to put a few of your rings into. A pie plate will work for this. Add the Bisquick and then drizzle in a little beer, whisking together until you get a thick batter. The batter should be thicker than pancake batter but not like dough.

Preheat a large skillet with an inch of vegetable oil in it. The oil is ready for frying when a drop of batter sizzles and rises immediately to the top. Begin frying your onion rings in a single layer, without crowding the pan.

Don't crowd the pan while cooking!

Turn them once as they begin to brown. Watch them closely so they don't burn. As they are done, drain them on some more paper towels. This takes a little time, but it's worth the extra work. We had them alongside some sloppy joes, a few french fries and marinated cucumbers from my neighbors garden. YUMMY!

Ther's nothing like Homemade Onion Rings!

Perfect burger?

This is my sons' idea of HIS perfect burger, complete with cheddar cheese, mayo, juicy tomato and a FRIED EGG! He toasted his bun on the outside grill and then loaded it up. I don't know what I think of the fried egg on top, but I must admit it LOOKED tasty. See how cute the egg is? We attended a family party over the weekend, and one of my many cousins brought tiny little chicken eggs, from her "teenage" chickens, as she called them. They were organic, free range, happy chickens too, with little speckles on their tiny eggs. They fried up into a perfect size for burger topping.

Prior to cooking our burgers on the grill, there ensued a major, rather loud discussion, about how to form the patties. My husband likes to make the patties, and he forms them into roughly the shape of a fat flying saucer, with a big hump in the middle. After many hours spent watching the Food Network, I think they should be slightly hollowed out in the center, with uniform edges. Dear hubs taper off at the edges, resulting in overcooked edges and almost raw middles. I won last night, and the burgers were perfect, if I do say so myself. Cudos to Bobby Flay and Rachel Ray for the shaping lessons!!