beer battered fried pickles

There are two ways of making fried pickles- battered or crusted. We like them both ways. These are sort of like the ones we enjoy from B&D Burgers here in Savannah, but I used hot and spicy pickle chips to make ours.

This important- use cold packed refrigerator pickles. They have better crunch to begin with, and they hold up a lot better in frying. Make sure they are close to room temperature before battering and frying, as well.

Dry then wet- be sure to season both liberally.

I use paprika, all seasons salt and lemon pepper for mine. Usually, if I use non-spicy pickles, I'll also add cayenne, but these slices were hot enough.

You want your batter to be the thickness of pancake batter so that it sticks pretty well to the pickle chip and it doesn't expand too much in the oil.

Serve these little nuggets of joy and deliciousness with ranch dressing or dill buttermilk dressing and remember to enjoy with caution. These are delicious. Oh, and Ed has mentioned that I don't talk about him in the blog any more so... ED ED ED ED ED! HI ED!

Beer Battered Fried Pickles
1 1 lb container refrigerator pickle chips
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup flour, spilt into 1/4 cup portions
1/2 cup corn starch, split into 1/4 cup portions
1/2 cup beer
2 Tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning, split into 1 Tablespoon portions
1 Tablespoon all seasons salt, split into 1/2 Tablespoon portions
1 Tablespoon paprika, split into 1/2 Tablespoon portions

Preheat oil to 350 degrees in a large stock pot. Drain pickles in a colander and set aside. Prepare two bowls, one for wet batter and one for dry. Prepare wet batter by combining 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch, half the seasonings and the beer. Add more flour if needed to create a batter with pancake batter consistency. To create dry batter, combine remaining flour, cornstarch and seasonings. Dredge each pickle chip in the dry then wet batter and fry in oil for 3 minutes a piece, or until each chip is crispy and browned. Allow to drain on a paper towel and serve with ranch dressing. Enjoy!