Here’s Day 6 of the A Week of Onion Rings series which features Southern Style Sweet Corn Onion Rings.

(Yesterday’s featured onion rings were Stuffed Potato Skin Onion Rings.)

This one’s a little different, but still very easy. It captures the flavor of sweet summer corn and wraps it around the onion in a golden, pillowy crust. Perfect with grilled food of all kinds.

This recipe uses canned corn, but you can make it using fresh corn scraped off the cob. Adjust the salt and sugar to your taste. A nominal amount of garlic powder is invoked for its mysterious power to enhance the flavor of corn while not making its own presence known.

Ingredients:

1 can (about 15 oz) cream-style corn (I use Del Monte because they add less sugar)
1 cup self-rising flour (plus additional if needed)
1/8 tsp white pepper (or more to taste)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
Oil for frying
1 very large yellow or Vidalia onion, cut and separated into 3/4 inch rings

Preparation:

Pulse the corn in a food processor or blender until nearly smooth. Remove to a bowl and whisk in the flour 1/4 cup at a time until a thick batter is achieved. Whisk in the spices and set aside. Heat 1/2 to 3/4 inches oil in a heavy skillet to 375 degrees.

Dip an onion ring into the batter, coating thickly. Lay it gently into the oil and cook until golden, turning once. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining rings. You can do 2-3 at a time depending on the size of your skillet, but take care not to crowd the pan or let the temperature drop too much, or the rings will turn out greasy.
Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions:

• A pinch or three of cayenne adds a little counterbalance to the corn’s sweetness.

• Add some finely minced sweet red or green pepper, or finely minced pickled jalapeno to the batter.

• Take a large soft kaiser roll, put a big onion ring on the bottom half, put a heap of smoky pulled pork inside the onion ring, top with creamy cole slaw, put the lid on, bite. The great outdoors just got greater, didn’t it?

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