Deep Fried Pickles

Am I an insane person?

If by insane, you mean that I suddenly had the urge to try making deep friend pickles at one in the morning, that I just so happened to have all the ingredients I needed on hand, and that I actually went through with it, then yes, I am an insane person.

They were delicious.

I've never deep fried anything before. I'm somewhat embarrassed by the sheer level of pride I felt at successfully doing it on my first attempt. I've always been kind of scared by the idea of all that hot oil, but it really wasn't bad at all.


My spice cupboard was fairly bare, but I did have something called 'seafood seasoning.' The ingredient list was basically pepper, onion, garlic, dill and lemon. I thought that sounded pretty perfect for a deep fried pickle. If you don't have something like that on hand, make your own spice blend with powdered garlic or onion and anything else that sounds good.

This recipe made a generous single portion that could probably be split between two more reasonable people. If for some reason you need copious amounts of deep fried pickles, just double or triple the recipe as needed.

Deep Fried Pickles
Ingredients:
3 dill pickle spears
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp seafood seasoning or similar spice blend
1/2 tsp paprika
oil (I used canola oil)

1. Cut pickle spears into bite sized chunks. Pat off all the excess brine with a paper towel.

2. Mix together all the dry ingredients. Dredge each pickle chunk in the egg, then the bread crumbs. The crumbs won't want to stick to the slick side of the pickle, so really press them on.

3. Heat two inches of oil in a saucepan to 365 F [be careful, that's hot!]. Using a slotted spoon to get them in and out, fry the pickle chunks in batches until they're golden brown, being sure not to overcrowd the pot. Each batch will only take about two minutes.

4. When they look done [you know what fried food looks like], remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels. Continue frying in batches until all the pickles are done.

5. Salt lightly if desired. Pickles are pretty salty themselves, so I would taste them first before you salt them, you might not even want any. Enjoy!