Fried Pickles

Hubby's been traveling for business and has settled in Texas for the next few months. Since his arrival there he has not stopped talking about the fried pickles.

He keeps saying how outrageous they are, but I don't know how pickles can fall into an outrageous category. I decided it was time to find out.

I didn't have a recipe and I certainly had no idea what a fried pickle tasted like so I had to rely on hubby's palate. I must preface this by saying he has a great palate for tasting wine, but when it comes to food he's just not there yet.

I asked him what flavors he tasted in the fried pickles and he said they just taste like pickles. O.K., so how outrageous could they taste? Pickles are pickles and taste like pickles and I can't imagine doing anything to make their flavors change.

They are distinct in their flavor profiles of dillness, sourness, or sweetness and that's it. But I was determined to find out what hubby's fascination was with the fried pickles.

So here are my steps to make Homestyle Fried Pickles.

1. Heat canola oil in a shallow pan. Make sure it's hot enough for frying probably about 375 degrees.


2. I sliced a few dill pickles into spears and a few in rounds. I quickly dropped them in cold water just to rinse off the pickling juice then I dried them well in paper towels.


3. I set up a dish with flour, another with a beaten egg, and a third dish with a breading mixture of half cornmeal and half bread crumbs and seasoned with a dash of salt and pepper. The pickles are already salty so I didn't want to use too much salt.


4. It was simple enough and the good thing about pickles is they don't have to be "cooked" so they fry up very fast, about 45 seconds or just until they have browned on each side. This breading mixture was crunchy and the quick fry kept the pickles crunchy as well.


5. Drain on paper towels and serve. They can be served at room temperature.


6. You can serve them as a side dish. Use them in sandwiches, or make a dipping sauce using ranch dressing. If you use bread and butter pickles you can make a mustard dipping sauce with Dijon mustard and honey.

My first attempt at Fried Pickles was successful. It was easy and the entire process does not take more than 30 minutes.

They were quite good but I wouldn't qualify them as outrageous. However, they are fun to eat and would make a great little appetizer for the upcoming football season gatherings.



Mangia!
Winelady Cooks