Something New!

So spring is a time to try new things. So I just wanting to see what it was like to post on my blog of my own choice away from grad school, and well a few friends and I came up with a brilliant idea! I will share a recipe that we came up with for Drunken Fried Pickles.

Easter Saturday, we had our extended family gathering where we enjoyed a cookout, and while sauteing up vegetables for burgers, we decided that we would try to fry some pickles. A few things that we all agreed on we that we loved dill pickles, beer battered onion rings are the best and therefore beer battered pickles must be amazing.

Here is our test...ideas are welcome, but we enjoyed this trial.

Ingredients:
You favorite dill pickles (we tried home canned, sliced spears, and sliced concession pickles...more on that later)
1 package of bis-kits
1 can of your favorite beer (this was a challenge since I don't like or drink beer)
Step 1: Pick your pickles!!! (Say that 5 times fast!)
If you need to slice them go for it. Once you have sliced you will need to lay all your slices out on layers of newspaper and paper towels to dry a bit. We used the newspaper to help expedite the process! You can also make the drying process quicker if you will also cover the top of your slices with paper towels and gently press. (Sorry, no pic on this step...We decided to make this a blog post after we finished!) At this time also heat up your Fry Daddy or skillet with about 1/2 inch of oil. I am thinking a Fry Daddy is easier, but I used a skillet this time.

Step2: Mixin' beer for batter!!!
In a medium to large bowl, pour your packet of bis-kits and mix with 3/4-1 cup of beer. We used 1 cup, but the amount of beer used will be dependent on the thickness desired for your batter. Mix well.

Step 4: Better Batter!!!
Place a handful of dried pickle slices into the batter bowl. Use a strainer, tongs, or if you like your hands to pull the now battered pickles out of the bowl.

Step 5: Fry 'em Up!!!
Gently place the battered pickles into the oil. Careful as the oil will pop! If you are pan frying, allow a couple of minutes per side. Fry until a nice golden brown. We used tongs to keep the pickles from sticking to the pan and to remove the pickles.


Step 6: Drain 'em!!!
Less grease is good! Make sure you neatly lay out some more newspaper and paper towels because you'll be draining again! Lay your pickles out so they may drain completely. Careful, they're hot! Lightly salt if you like!

Step 7: Plate and Serve!!!
Now you can plate and serve a delicious snack or side for dinner. Yum stuff!!!

A note on the pickles used: We did not have any name or store brand hamburger slices to use. In this test, we used home canned spicy dills, which tasted great, and the batter seemed to stick nicely to them. We also sliced up some of those jumbo concession stand style dills. Flavor was fine, but the batter did not like sticking. Finally, the favorite of the test kitchen...was sliced dill spears, we used Kosher. The spears were thin sliced, so they did not take long to fry and the natural saltiness was by far the best. Vlasic is the fav in our home! I would like to try it next time with the hamburger dills though.

Hope you can enjoy this treat too!