Fried pickles: food of the drunk, the southern, and the fantastic. They're one of my absolute favorite terrible-for-me foods. If you've never had them, you might be questioning my taste right now... but you should really give them a try! You won't regret it.

Fried pickles make a great appetizer for a group - they're perfect with barbeque! They're also really simple to make, so you get more time eating and less time cooking. :D And you probably have all the ingredients on hand.

I make my fried pickles with a little cornmeal in the batter because that's how I've always had them - but feel free to change up the base recipe as you like!

Step 1: What You'll Need:

pickles of your choice - spears or slices
3/4 cup flour (all purpose is best)
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 eggs
1 cup milk
seasonings of choice - I did Tony's, black pepper and dill - if you don't use Tony's you'll want to add salt
vegetable/canola/peanut oil for frying

I prefer thinner slices of pickle, but spears are excellent too. You might want to double bread them. :D

Step 2: Prep the Ingredients

Set your deep fryer to 350 F or get a good amount of oil (at least 3-4 cups) heating over medium heat on the stove.

First of all, drain the pickles!

Beat the eggs and milk together until no chunks of egg remain - you can add a little hot sauce to this if you like! :D

Add your seasonings to the flour/cornmeal - I normally add a couple teaspoons of my primary flavoring and a pinch of dill. Mix the dry ingredients with a fork and taste test to make sure you've added enough seasoning. Keep adding until you can taste the spices!

Step 3: Battering!

Plop the pickles in the milk/egg mix, and let them hang out while the oil heats up all the way.

Then place them in the flour and mix them around until they're coated very well. At this point they're ready to fry, but if you'd like a thicker batter dip them back in the milk and then back in the flour.

Step 4: Frying!

Shake off the excess flour and drop the pickles gently into the hot oil. Make sure not to crowd the pot and fry in batches!

Fry them until golden brown - 3-5 minutes is perfect in most cases. Stir them around so they cook evenly.

Pull them out and let them drain on paper towels. If you didn't salt your breading, you'll want to salt the pickles now before they cool.

Enjoy!