Beer Battered Onion Rings with Creole Mustard Dipping Sauce

Source: OSO Sweet Onions

Batter and Onions:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups beer, chilled or at room temperature
2 sweet onions
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Sauce:
3/4 cup Creole mustard or other spicy, whole-grained mustard
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce or to taste

Batter: Thoroughly whisk together flour and beer. Let the batter stand, covered, at room temperature for at least 3 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare dipping sauce. Thoroughly whisk together the mustard, honey, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce; reserve, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. Return sauce to room temperature before serving.

To prepare onion rings, preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet or jelly roll pan with paper toweling; reserve.

Slice onions 1/4 inch thick. Separate into rings; reserve.

Pour 3 inches of oil into a large frying pan; heat to 375 degrees F.

With metal tongs, dip a few onion rings into batter, then carefully put them into the hot oil. Fry, turning the rings a couple of times until golden brown. Remove from oil, put rings on the reserved towel-lined pan. Put onion rings in oven; keep warm up to 1 to 2 hours. Continue until all the onion rings have been used. Serve with dipping sauce.

Makes 6 servings.