Onion Rings with Spicy Dipping Sauce

For the special dipping sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate several hours, or overnight for all the flavors to blend. Serve with rings, burgers, or chicken. Adjust Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce according to taste.

For the onion rings:
Mix 1 cup of flour, black pepper, cayenne, and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the beer and Sriracha sauce and blend until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

In a large, high sided skillet or saucepan, heat 2 inches of peanut oil until hot, about 350-370 F.

Add the remaining flour into a large zip lock bag, bowl or plate and toss the sliced onions rings in the flour. Then dip the onion rings in the batter and fry them in small batches taking care not to crowd the pan. Cook until they browned on both sides then use a slotted spoon or kitchen spider to remove them to a rack lined with paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve immediately while you finish frying the rest.

(Onion rings recipe was adapted from The Hooters Cookbook via David Lebovitz and the sauce recipe was slightly adapted from one posted on Allrecipes.)