Vegan Fried Pickles!

If I were a world leader, I would declare Fridays to be fried pickle day. No one can resist their magical powers. I would use them to take over the world. Or whatever. Oh, wait. I made them on a Saturday. I guess I haven't really thought through my plan for world domination. Really, though, I first had these a few years ago when I was down south whitewater rafting with some family, and I couldn't get enough. Sadly, when I came back home, I couldn't find them anywhere, and people thought me insane when I asked. They had the insanity part right, but not because of the pickles...

Speaking of pickles, I used the kind you find in the grocery store's refrigerated section. I chose the Kosher Dill Spears. These pickles are extra crunchy and I, literally, can't resist their extra garlicky flavor. I may have sipped some of the juice from the jar when no one was looking. Anyway, because they are so damn crunchy, they were perfect for the frying. They actually stayed crunchy after frying. Mmmmmm.....

You'll definitely want to set up 2 shallow bowls for the dredging and use some tongs if you have them. It gets messy. I started out using my hands to dip and dredge the pickles, but my fingers very quickly resembled clubs. I had to abort that plan and dig out the tongs. Also, don't be me...I used a pan that was a little too shallow, so I got some splatter all over my stove. Icky. Maybe one day I will break down and get a fryer. For now, I will instead berate myself for not using a deep enough pot. Not really. Well, maybe.

Makes a whole jar of dill spears. Don't be surprised when you abandon the rest of your dinner and eat only the pickles. I had made some delicious tempeh BLTs (aka TLT) made, but didn't even bother eating any until all the pickles were gone. OH, I almost forgot to tell you! The pickles are incredible dipped into your favorite vegan ranch. Here is the recipe I usually use---> Scroll down about halfway to find the Rodeo Ranch recipe. I sub almond milk for soy as I don't have much love for soymilk.

Enough chatter, on to the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 jar kosher dill spears, or your chosen pickle
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Braggs liquid aminos
• about 2 tsp sriracha or your chosen hot sauce (Don't worry, the pickles aren't "hot" - it just adds flavor to the batter)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• dash cayenne
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 flax egg (1 TB ground flax mixed with 3 TB warm water and set aside until it resembles egg snot)
• Oil for frying - you want at least 1-2 Inches deep in your chosen pot or deep fryer

Method:

1. First of all, you want to put your pickles out on paper towel and gently pat them with another paper towel to get all the excess liquid off of them.

2. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together almond milk, worcestershire, Braggs, sriracha, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and flax egg.
3. In another wide, shallow-ish bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and pepper. Your two bowls should look something like this:

4. Heat your oil to 360 degrees F. I got mine to stabilize temperature while I was still dredging the pickles...but you should start heating the oil as it takes a little while on your stovetop. Moving on.
5. Using your tongs, dip pickle into the wet bowl, then into the flour. Then back into the wet. Then back into the flour. The messier the better! Not even joking. The crazy excess dredge makes for delicious crunchy coating after they are fried. Repeat until they are all coated.
6. Very carefully use your tongs to put a few into the hot oil. I only did 3 at a time because adding more lowered the oil temperature too much. You want it to stay around 350 degrees F while cooking. When they are a lightly browned all over, remove from oil and put on a paper towel-lined plate to soak the excess oil. When you first put them in the oil, do it one at a time, otherwise they try to stick together. Also, when first putting them in, use your tongs to make sure they don't stick to the bottom. It only takes a second. 
7. Once they have cooled a bit, chow down. I highly recommend a dip in some ranch dressing. Enjoy!