This must be a southern thing, but my oh my, if you've ever had a deep fried pickle have I got the recipe for you. They come out perfectly crisp on the outside and well, pickly on the inside. My dear friend, Amanda, ordered these at Alamo Drafthouse Theater and offered me one. It was hard to stay focused on the movie after that because I could smell the yummy goodness wafting from her basket. Needless to say, I ordered myself a basket the next time I went and talked myself into parting with one for my cute little 7-year-old (who is the only pickle-lover in our home besides me). He didn't love it and I cursed myself for wasting such savory goodness on an unappreciative soul. But, I digress.
I was making fried green tomatoes the other day (since my tomato plant suddenly decided to give birth to multiples just in time for the first hard frost) and I had lots of extra breading. So, I decided to fry up some dill pickles and hope for the best. I wasn't disappointed and you won't be either!
6-7 dill pickle spears or a bunch of sliced dill pickles
1 egg
1/4 cup milk (or soy or rice milk)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 quart canola oil for frying
Directions
- Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip pickles into flour to coat. Then dip pickles into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
- In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place pickles into the frying pan in batches of 2 or 3, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the pickles, they should not touch each other. When the pickles are golden, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels. Serve with ranch dressing, for pete's sake!
