Fried Pickles

The funniest things happen when you're on Twitter.

Just the other night I was on there, and somehow the topic of Sonic was brought up and the fact that I've never been to one (no, I haven't.  A moment of silence, please).  And either Shell or Kim brought up the fried pickles they sell.  I think it was Kim.  Shell was too busy taunting me with cherry limeade or whatever it is that I've never drank but which is supposedly the nectar of the gods or something but I'm not bitter or anything.

Jealousy aside, my curiosity was piqued.  Fried pickles, you say?

I knew we had to be together, fried pickles and I.  It was meant to be.

So I started looking through recipes for fried pickles and found one that I liked on AllRecipes.com - or rather, in the comments section (the first comment).  Battering sounded to me like the way to go.  So that's what I did.  Of course I made my own alterations to the ingredient list - don't I always?

They weren't the prettiest things I've ever created but boy were they delicious.  So delicious, in fact, that I ate...almost all of them over the course of the day.  In other news, I never want to see another fried pickle again.  

At least, not until I forget how sick I felt afterwards.

Fried Pickles

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 jar dill pickles (I used 24 oz, you could use more)

1 cup vegetable oil for deep frying (Or more - I made sure I had 2 -3 inches of oil in the pan)

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour oil in pan or fryer.  Heat to 365 degrees F.  (I used my meat thermometer up to 300 degrees, then dropped bits of batter into oil to check how it fried.  Maybe not the most scientific way to go about it, but it worked)

While oil is heating, pour pickles into a strainer and drain liquid.  Lay pickle spears on paper towels and dry as thoroughly as possible.

In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients with flour and spices.  Drop a bit of batter into oil once heated and taste to test spices, adjusting batter as needed.

Dip spears into batter, making sure to coat thoroughly.  Carefully drop into hot oil and fry until golden, making sure to turn over to ensure even frying.  This will only take a few minutes at a time.

Carefully remove fried pickles from oil and drain on paper towels.  Immediately sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

 

Next time I'll dredge and fry to instead of battering to see the difference.  I was really satisfied with the way these turned out - as is evidenced by the number I ate.  Sigh.

Have you ever eaten fried pickles? What did you think?

Sharing with House of Hepworths, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Designs by Gollum, Simply Sweet Home, 504 Main, A Southern Fairytale & Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - stop on by to see what everyone else has come up with this week!