The Fading Fine Art of Fried Food

When our children shared on Mother's Day what they love about me, one of the most popular answers was "her cooking." Though I'm no gourmet chef, I'm grateful our children aren't like the ones who quipped to their mother, when eyeing the dinner set before them, "Didn't we throw up the last time you served this?" (I know! Everyone gasp together!)

I've brought my southern heritage with me to our desert life and have trained our children's taste buds (for better or for worse) to have a deep affection for home-cooked, comfort foods--foods like mashed potatoes swimming in butter, mile-high southern biscuits, sweet tea, Italian meatloaf, AND the soon-to-be-extinct fare of fried food. It's becoming a crime to heat a pan of oil up, whip up a mean batter, and dip and fry, dip and fry.

But I shall hold fast to this fine, if fading, method of cooking, for one day our children might be the last people on earth who are skilled in the proper use of Crisco or canola oil, and many will come from near and far, knocking on their doors and whispering, "We heard you serve fried food here and sweet tea. May we taste some, please?"

Alas! I indulge in a bit of hyperbole just to to tell you this: I made fried onion rings the other night, and they were a hit! For the last few of you who dare to indulge in fried food, may you enjoy these tasty golden rings of savory goodness.

Spicy Fried Onion Rings

1 large yellow onion, cut into 3/4 inch thick rings
1 c. self-rising flour
1/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 T. hot sauce, or to taste
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. water
6 c. canola oil

Separate onion slices into individual rings. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, hot sauce, and salt. Add water, stir with a whisk until blended. Add onion rings; gently toss.

Fill a large heavy-bottomed skillet halfway with oil. (You may not need all 6 c. of oil.) Heat oil over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Working in batches, remove onion rings from flour mixture, allowing excess to drip off, and fry until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels.

If you make ahead, preheat oven to 225 degrees, and keep fried onion rings warm on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet for up to 30 minutes.
~recipe from Celebrate magazine

With love,
Trisha

**I never measure out oil. I just fill the pan until halfway full. I did use the timer--remember that later batches might cook a bit more quickly. I used the full amount of hot sauce, and no one thought these were overly spicy. For our family, I doubled the recipe and had a few left over. (But not all of us are onion ring lovers.)