Since I recently found out Nico's mom loves these recipe posts (hi Nico's mom!), they're back for another season. This year I figured we'd start out with an easy effort to serve as a side or appetizers so I give you fried pickle spears. This will cover you for about a jar's worth (there's usually a dozen per jar, give or take), so adjust accordingly if you're feeding a large crowd (or are just a glutton like me). You can also use this for pickle chips, but I am lazy and that takes forever so I just stick with the whole spear.
Fried Pickle Spears
Ingredients
4 to 6 cups vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix (about half of a 1-oz package)
4 eggs
2 cups bread crumbs
12-ish crisp pickle spears1. Heat oil in a deep fryer or 12" skillet to 375°F.
2. In separate shallow bowls stir together the flour and dressing mix, whisk the eggs, and in the 3rd bowl place the bread crumbs.
3. Dredge each pickle in the flour mixture, then in the egg, then into the flour a second time, then into the egg a second time, and then finally the bread crumbs. So, flour-egg-flour-egg-bread crumbs.
4. Fry in hot oil, turning once, until golden brown (takes about two minutes per batch, I can usually do three at the time without it killing the oil's temperature). Drain on a cooling rack or, let's be honest here, a paper plate covered with paper towels. I like to serve them with ranch dressing, but sometimes when I'm feeling fancy I'll go with a good white barbecue sauce.
*pro tip: just like you don't want to grill meat until it's at room temperature, keep the pickles out of the fridge or let them come back to room temp before frying. Cold things into hot oil will kill the oil's temperature and give you soggy results.