Lord of the Rings!

   Justin is no Lord, but he definitely loves his Rings... onion rings that is. I'm not crazy about them and I would much rather have diamond rings than fried and greasy onions, but because he loves them so much, I decided to make them just for my man! I do have to admit that they are definitely much cheaper than diamond rings, but what can I say ... you like what you like! I decided to experiment a little bit and I made them two ways, with and without bread crumbs (or rather saltine crackers crumbs). And since I wasn't planning on eating them myself, I made them super duper extra spicy! That's how my man likes it, that's how my man gets it (hopefully I will get a super duper extra diamond ring too!). Here is the recipe: 

Batter:
*  1 cup flour
*  1 cup fat-free milk
*  1/2 tsp baking powder
*  1 tsp salt
*  1/2 tbsp Tabasco smoked chipotle sauce
*  1/2 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Bread crumbs:
*  30 saltine crackers
*  1 tbsp garlic powder
*  1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
*  1/2 tsp ground cumin

*  2 large yellow onions, sliced into thick slices
*  vegetable oil (about 1 bottle)

Dipping sauce:
*  2 tbsp fat-free yogurt
*  1 tbso ketchup
*  1 tbsp BBQ sauce
*  1 tbsp Sriracha (I told you it's a spicy dish!)

Directions:
1.To prepare batter, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. If you are not a spice-lover, you can skip the hot sauces.
2. To prepare bread crumbs, put the saltine crackers in a plastic Ziploc bag and beat it with a rolling pin until all crushed into a fine crumbs. Add garlic powder, rosemary and cumin, and mix everything together.
3. In a Dutch oven (or equally "tough" pot heat the vegetable oil to a high temperature. You want to have at least 2-3 inches of oil in the pot.
4. When oil is hot, dip onion slices in a batter, then in bread crumbs and put into the oil. Fry for about 20-30 seconds until golden brown.
5. Mix all the ingredients of a dipping sauce together and you are ready to enjoy.

   I made few without the bread crumbs, but they are not as good and flavorful as the one with the breading on them (at least that's what Justin said). The rosemary, cumin and garlic in a breading makes all the difference, it's very tasty and fragrant. You could smell the piny rosemary and garlic on all three levels of the house! You have a sweet onion covered with a little bit spicy batter and aromatic, crunchy breading... even though I didn't try them, I could tell Justin loved them a lot. Even Spikey got one!

Enjoy,
Magda.