Eatin' Like Kings (Onion Rings)

 I was inspired by a quote I read from the great thinker, Cookie Monster.  He once said:

"Onion Rings are just vegetable donuts."

We still have dozens and dozens of onions left over from the summer harvest.  We planted over 300 onion sets and harvested darn well all of them - a bumper crop.  We have been cooking them down with okra.  We slice them thin and enjoy them with cucumbers drizzled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper.  We've air fried them and dipped them in a spicy dipping sauce.  We sauté them with chicken or with calf liver.  We make homemade pico de gallo and cook with them in every dish.  Despite our very best efforts and commitment, our onion supply is still well stocked.  

There's one other thing we wanted to do - make homemade onion rings!  In our little town there's an old fashioned drive in called The Rocket Drive Inn.  They make some really good homemade onion rings.  We very seldom fry anything.  When we do, we try to use the good oils like olive oil or coconut oil.  Today, Tricia wanted to make some homemade onion rings, and I encouraged her to roll with it.

To extend their life, we have them stashed away in cool spots.  Tricia grabbed a big, fat sweet yellow onion from storage.

Onion ring aficionados debate about which ones are best.  I've eaten some mighty fine ones sliced super thin and fried crispy.  I've gorged myself ones sliced fatter as well.  I don't think you can find a bad onion ring - except maybe the fake ones at a fast food drive in.  Tricia sliced them in wide rings and dipped them in a batter she whipped up.

They were dropped in hot oil on the stove top.  I was circling like a buzzard.

As quickly as Tricia would pull them out, we would scarf them down, hot and crispy.  If you allow them to cool, they get a little soggy and I like them crispy.  The pile on the plate never grew.  Look at those bad boys on the plate, would you?

We at the whole onion.  There was nothing left but a big, greasy mess in the kitchen to clean up.  But it was worth it.  My envie for onion rings was satisfied for the moment.  (Envie is Cajun for hungering or longing for something.  Southerners use the word 'hankering for' in the same context.)  I was stuffed.  I did tell Tricia we need to make those more often.  Perhaps we can diminish our stock of onions.

While I've got onions on my mind, there's a nice song by Robert Earl Keen called "Farm Fresh Onions."  Ol' Robert Earl Keen might like onions as much as I do: