Lewis County Recipes: Fried Onion Patties

I grew up next door to one of the South's finest cooks. Aunt Velma watched over me and fed me meals while my parents were at work. That turned out great, because that lady was an amazing cook.

Breakfasts always consisted of homemade biscuits, gravy and homemade jam, crispy bacon, sausage, fried eggs, grits, and a big glass of ice cold milk.

I ate dinner with her, too. Aside from all the homemade desserts like chocolate fudge cake and biscuit pudding, Aunt Velma prepared vegetables from our two-acre garden we shared with them.

I loved her preparation methods for vegetables. She fried the whole pod of okra and ate them for snacks, cooked Polk Salad from the backyard, and loved to smoke rabbit tobacco she picked in the wild.

Y'all hold on now. It isn't what you think. Utilized by the early settlers and Native Americans as a natural remedy and food seasoning, rabbit tobacco was also dried and sprinkled in window seals to keep spiders away, boiled in tea to help with coughs and sinus problems, and also helped with upset stomach.

Aunt Velma was a Renaissance woman and a great influence in my life. I always got excited when she made fried potato cakes with left-over mashed potatoes. This is a take on that dish, but instead of using potatoes, the main ingredient here is onion.

These are delicious, and I like them best with sweet Vidalia onion, but it's a personal preference.

A good dipping sauce is mayonnaise stirred with ketchup to taste, and a little paprika for added flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups chopped onions (about 2 small onions) shortening or oil for frying

Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients, then add milk and stir. This will give you a thick batter.
Add onions and mix until well blended.
Heat 1/2 inch oil in skillet over medium high heat. Drop batter by tablespoons into the hot oil.
Flatten with the back of a spatula, then brown on both sides until crispy, golden brown.
Drain on paper towel, sprinkle salt to taste.

Tips:
Try cooking these in a waffle iron. Works great.
Add cooked bacon to your batter. Delicious.
You can substitute the flour for gluten-free flour. It's good to do a test first. Rice flour works well.