County Fair Onion Rings with Spicy Hot Honey Mustard Sauce

 

Is there anything more fun to do than go to the carnival or fair in the summertime? I still love them as much as I did when I was a little girl!

Waiting until evening to go when the scorching hot day cooled off a bit, buying rolls of tickets that you saved half the summer for to go on as many rides as you possibly could, petting all of the baby farm animals, seeing the beautiful crafts, quilts and baked goods, playing a few games hoping to win a stuffed animal or maybe a goldfish or two, bright lights of every color, tractor pulls and demolition derbies, and of course, ….the food! 

Oh my goodness the food!!! You could already smell it when you pulled up to your spot on the grass to park! Walking down the gravel and dirt roads to reach the gates, you could already almost taste your first corn dog and basket of fried vegetables! 

Horribly fattening, a little bit greasy, and oh so good! 😉 😀 The fair just wouldn’t be the same without them!

After experimenting a few times with some beer batter, I think I’ve come up with a batter that even while frying, you can already tell that it has that same summertime fair flavor that we all love so much!

Crispy on the outside, but not teeth-shattering hard, sweet tender onions on the inside, and even a nice, spicy mustard sauce for dipping!

The mustard sauce also came out equally as good!

Though the Ranch dressing may seem like an odd ingredient to add to the mix, please don’t be afraid and whisk it in there! Everything ends up really blending together extremely well!

And don’t worry! It’s not super hot, either. Just a little heat! You can, of course, blast your tongue off blow torch-style and add a lot more sriracha if that’s your thing, but this seemed to have a nice balance of flavors for us!

My hubby doesn’t care for things that are too hot, so it was plenty for him and just enough for me!

After a very long cold winter, if this sounds awfully good to you, too, you’re really going to enjoy these! I’m working on a corn dog recipe, too, that as soon as it’s ready, I’ll be sharing to go right along with these Fair-Style Onion Rings! So, stay tuned!  

Have a beautiful sunny day everybody! 😀

   

 

COUNTY FAIR ONION RINGS with SPICY HOT HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE

3-4 servings

 

For Mustard Sauce:

1/3 cup spicy brown mustard, I like French’s  

2 tsp. honey

2 tsp. bottled Ranch Dressing  

1 tsp. sriracha sauce

 

For Onion Rings:

1 cup flour

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1/8 tsp. onion powder

1 cup beer, regular light or dark

1 extra large onion, slice off ends and sliced crossways into 3-4 thick slices

oil for frying

 

DIRECTIONS:

In small bowl, mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

In large deep frying pan, pour oil to 1 1/2″ deep. Get hot over medium high heat.

In medium-sized bowl, whisk dry ingredients until well mixed. Stir in beer well. 

Separate thick-cut onion slices keeping the rings 2-3 layers thick. (Don’t separate them completely.)  

Put a few at a time into batter, coat extremely well, and carefully place into hot oil. Fry until golden and crispy on both sides, repeating until all are fried. Place onto paper towel-lined cooling rack on a baking sheet.  

Serve hot with spicy mustard dipping sauce! 

*If you happen to get a super juicy onion, you can toss the rings or dust them with a little flour or cornstarch before coating with batter to make it stick. I’ve never had to do this, though.