In the South, we fry things; pickles included

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

There are a few items that are reserved as out-to-eat food because of either the expense or complexity of making them at home.

For me, this includes my favorite sports bar snack, fried pickles.

I have eaten my far share of fried pickles, an essential southern dish, but never attempted to make my own until college when I worked at a seafood restaurant. A few other employees and I would bring in a large jar of pickle slices and request that the guys in the kitchen dredge them in the batter used for fried zucchini and pop them in the fryer. Although the dish was never on the menu, it became one of my favorite meals at work.

I recently found a recipe that mimics the classic dish, but that doesn't include any frying at all, just broiling in the oven.

The spice mixture in this rather thick egg wash creates an extra kick that I enjoy; however, if I were to make this dish again, I would cut back on the amount of panko used: I feel it takes away from the punch.

Oven fried pickles
Makes 6 servings

What you need:
1 jar pickle slices
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

What to do:
Turn oven broiler on high.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and flour. Add Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning and pepper. Mix well.

Place panko bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Dunk each pickle slice into the egg mixture, than dredge it in the panko bread crumbs.

Place coated pickles on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Place sheet in the middle rack of the oven. Broil for about 3 minutes on each side.

Cilantro garlic ranch
What you need:
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
Handful of cilantro (more or less if you like... personal preference)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
4 cloves garlic
1/8 of an onion

What to do:
In a bowl mix italian seasoning, buttermilk and mayo together.

In a food processor mix cilantro, garlic and onions together until there are no more chunks. Then add about half of the buttermilk mixture to the food processor.

Blend again. Then pour it back into the rest of the buttermilk mixture and give it a good stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate.

Recipe adapted from www.thevanillatulip.com