Fried Pickles

Here's a weird connection for you: fried pickles + love. As I was making these fried pickles the other day I was thinking about the very first time I ate fried pickles. This is often my train of thought when I'm working on something. And I realized that the very first time I had fried pickles was at a bar with Trey. This was before we liked each other. Truth be told I actually didn't like him all that much the night we ate fried pickles, but we were seeing one of the last Harry Potter movies that night and I had learned (from experience) that it's better to be with someone at the movies than by yourslef when it comes to Harry Potter. There's just too much to say after credit rolls, you'll end up bugging your movie theatre neighbors.Anyway. I immediatley loved fried pickles. Duh. A few months later I tried making a version for my blog. Not this blog here. I had my own food blog before I decided to team up with my sister. I tried a slightly different, more fussy breading method back then. It was more like how you would bread fried chicken (yeah, I know about that). And it was yummy but these, these are on another level. And you MUST make the mayo dipping sauce. It's easy. And the pickles are pretty easy. This whole thing is SO easy but try not to make these too often. Fried pickles should be a speical treat. Maybe shared with a special someone. That's been the case for me oddly enough. Bet you didn't expect this fried pickle post to get sappy, huh?Fried Pickles + Spicy Dill Pickle Mayo, makes a basketfull.

1/3 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 jar sliced pickles, drained (reserve the juice)

For the dipping sauce:
1/4 cup mayo
1 tablespoon pickle juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
a sprinkle of salt + pepper In a large bowl stir together the pickle batter ingredients (the first four ingredients listed above). Drain the pickles and gently pat dry with paper towels. Add them to the bowl and toss so that each pickle gets coated. Fry them in oil (I used canola) that is heated to 375°F for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate covered in paper towels and sprinkle on a little salt + pepper.

Stir together the dipping sauce ingredients and serve chilled beside the warm fried pickles. Make these for friends some night, they are silly and totally delicous! xo. Emma