My Nonnie just had fried pickles for the first time last week.  I know.  She's insane to have gone 50 or more years (hehe) without seeing them on a menu and feeling that magnetic pull.  She said that she was always nervous about ordering them because she thought the chefs fried the whole pickle and then cut it up.  I just don't see why this is a deterrent.  Fried whole or fried in slices (or spears or planks), it's hard to go wrong.  Which makes next month exciting because Jake is taking Lily and me to the Great New York State Fair.  Fair foods, yea!  Combine fried everything with a wine tent and lots of baby cows to pet, and it ought to be a fun time.  Country girl for a day.

Side note, happy birthday to my mom today!  I think given the choice of fried country foods, she would have gone for the Oreos.  But I'm sure I could have convinced her to have pickles, too :)

I got this recipe from Mom's Test Kitchen for a Secret Recipe Club swap.  I knew I would like Jaime, the creator, when I saw that the headline of her site is "A happy kitchen is a messy kitchen & this one's delirious."  I should invite her over so that she can see how much our messy, flour-splattered kitchens are soul mates.  This recipe is one of the most popular on her site, and I just had to stop my search as soon as I saw it.  I swapped out some of the flour for cornmeal to add a crunchy texture and was very happy with the results.  I even fried jalapeno slices for the heck of it, and one got mixed in with the pickles.  Jake's taste buds got quite a shock!

Fried Pickles

2/3 cup flour 1/3 cup corn meal 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder 1/2 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 large eggs Oil for frying ~2 cups dill pickle chips Ranch dressing (for serving)

Heat about two inches of oil in a large skillet until the top ripples (but isn't smoking!).

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour, corn meal, garlic powder, salt, paprika and sugar.  In another shallow dish, lightly beat the eggs.

Working in batches, coat your pickles in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour.  Then coat the pickles in the eggs.  Dip them back in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess again.

Place the pickles in the heated oil and fry until they are golden brown on both sides.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.  Serve hot with ranch dressing.

Source: Adapted from Mom's Test Kitchen