For very special occasions when I was growing up (e.g. the Fourth of July), my mom would make what I still consider the most delicious onion rings in the whole world. They showed up on our table no more than a half-dozen times, but they're the stuff of family legend. For my dad's birthday dinner, he requested a repeat appearance of these mythical fried onions, so I did my best to recreate my mom's recipe.
Basically, this is a fritter dough rather than the traditional onion-ring coating. It keeps the onions from drying out and has a little more heft.
In any case, I know that Dani Cooks has been heavy on the baking recently, so here's a recipe that uses a whole different skill set (deep frying) for an all-American classic.
