.barbecue onion rings.

i've had a craving for onion rings lately. i assume this fits into my eating more vegetables category. in the past, i'd tried frying up onion rings and hadn't had much success with making the batter stick to the onion. but, i was willing to try again.

after seeing some yellow onions at the local farmer's market, i took that as my indication to fry them up. now, my husband doesn't eat onions. he really, really hates onions. except as onion rings or caramelized or cooked in dishes like chili, and so on. see, he really, really hates them.

for my batter, i added mostly flour, some bread crumbs, a few dashes of paprika, a little salt and pepper and a sprinkling of hope.

oh, did i mention i was making barbecue onion rings?

yep, i tossed the sliced onions in barbecue sauce, some buttermilk, and a little bit of whisked egg. with the onions soaking in this barbecue flavored medley and the awaiting batter seasoned with paprika, these babies were bound to be barbeculicious!

with my previous failed attempts at onion rings having taken place in a pan of hot oil, i finally gave in to my eye guy's nudging to use our deep fryer. why do we own a deep fryer?, you ask. because everything that comes out of there is delicious. and healthy, super healthy.

after dredging the barbecue soaked onions in the dry ingredients, they were ready to throw into the 350 degree oil. the whole time they were swimming in their own private hot tub, i was doing an onion ring dance. the onion ring dance is quite similar to the rain dance but with less fancy footwork and a little more chanting.

after approximately two to three long minutes, i pulled them out and flipped them onto the pile of paper towels i had laid out for the finished product. i was as happy as can be when i saw that my barbecue onion rings actually looked like a finished product for the first time.

the final test was to see if they actually tasted good and both my husband and i were quite willing to be the judges. on first bite, they were crunchy with a juicy, soft center. there was a lingering smokiness on the palette from the barbecue, but it wasn't an overwhelming flavor component. both of us judges gave the rings a thumbs up.

the next time i make these barbecue onion rings for me and my onion-hating husband, i'm going to come up with an accompanying dipping sauce. oh, the options...