Fried pickles….delicious!

I love this.  This is a reblog from Rick's Picks blog.  I dare everyone to try this at home but you must use the People's Pickle or it isn't legit.

A Fried Version Of The People’s Pickle
August 5th, 2009

A Cavalcade of The People’s Pickle, reporting for duty.
We’ve been having a lot of fun coming up with new and interesting ways to enjoy The People’s Pickle.  Opening a jar and diving right in certainly works very well, but frying The People’s Pickle has taken matters to an entirely different level.

Half an inch of vegetable oil does the trick.
Over the 4th of July at our family sheebang in Vermont, we got out the cast iron skillet and went to work.  First we extracted all the pickles from the jar and set them on a plate covered with paper towels so that some of the brine moisture would drain off.  This makes the next steps more effective: first coat the pickles in flour, then dip them in a bowl of beaten eggs, and finally coat them in cornmeal.  And into the frying pan!

Once they come out of the frying pan, let them cool but only very briefly.   They are best enjoyed warm, dipped in an aioli that our pal the Fesser created, using the garlic brine as a base.

Here’s the recipe:

1 jar The People’s Pickle
1 c. cornmeal
1 T. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
equal parts olive oil and canola oil for deep frying, about 1″ in pan(peanut oil works well too)

The People's Pickle dressed up for a night on the town.
Remove pickles from the jar and pat dry with paper towels.  Set aside.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Stir together egg and milk in a separate bowl until well combined.  Add pickles to the egg and milk mixture.  Remove and toss pickles in cornmeal mixture until all surfaces are well coated and no wet spots remain.  Heat oil in cast iron pan or other heavy pan until a test drop of cornmeal batter sizzles on contact.  Carefully add 1/2 the pickles until both sides are crisp and nicely browned, about 4-5 minutes.  Set on paper towels and fry the second batch.  Serve hot with aioli (recipe below).  Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.

Aioli:

1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 c. canola and olive oil blend (straight olive oil is too strong)
Brine and spices from 1 jar The People’s PickleStrain The People’s Pickle brine into a colander set in bowl, reserving brine.  Keep residual garlic and spices in colander.  In a separate bowl, beat egg yolk with mustard.  Slowly add oil, incorporating with whisk, until all oil is emulsified. Add garlic and spices to taste. Season/thin with brine.You will have some leftover aioli that you can use for tuna salad or potato salad.  Enjoy!