“Fry” Day Pickles and Snow Days

Well, another couple of weeks have gone by and where  was I?  Oh yes!  I was snowed in with a friend of mine for a couple of days, so no pics of Yes!Chef! making tasty things last week.

Every year a group of 7 ladies that I have known for years visit me at my cabin in Tahoe for a weekend retreat.  We have been doing this for the last 9 years.  Last year they came in the beginning of October.  Some years they have visited in July or August.  This year, they waited until almost the last weekend in October.  The weather in Tahoe is always iffy in October and true to form, the first few days were balmy and beautiful.  It chilled down in the evening, but daytime was wonderful.

Then, on Sunday things changed.  A storm began to move in.  So, what did we do?  We decided to drive around the lake.  We stopped at one of the most beautiful places on the lake, Sand Harbor, and the wind was howling.  I haven’t seen waves so big on the lake…ever.  It was beautiful.

I had emailed them before they arrived to tell them to bring warm clothes because it might snow, but their idea of warm clothes is a hoodie over their t-shirts and capris (most of them live in Southern California).  Sigh.  We do keep some winter clothes in the cabin (obtained from Rummage Sales and Thrift stores, so they aren’t the height of fashion).  So, some of them bundled up into my hodge-podge of winter clothes.

By the time we rounded the lake and arrived at Emerald Bay, it was spitting snow, the wind was howling and it was COLD!

It was glorious!

By the next morning, there was several inches of snow on the ground.  I have an All-Wheel drive vehicle, but the other vehicle that was available was not equipped for the weather.  I made several trips to take my friends down to the Casino where most of my friends caught a shuttle to Reno airport, but my friend from Sacramento (with the other car) was not going anywhere.  By the next morning there was close to 1 foot of snow on the ground and it was continuing to snow.  The  morning after that, there was another 3-4 inches.  We hunkered down.

Things finally started to clear out on Thursday, so after some shoveling, my friend was able to get her car out to go home.

Meanwhile, when I got home, Yes!Chef! was in the frying mood.  He found a recipe for fried chicken that he wanted to try and so he got out our little frier to try out the recipe.  I will post that recipe (it’s worth it) in a couple of days/

Today I want to talk about Fried Pickles.

I’ll let that sink in for a few moments.

This may sound a little weird if you don’t care for pickles. If you are a pickle lover, then you are probably intrigued.  I had pinned a recipe for these beauties on Pinterest a couple of months ago, but Yes!Chef! had not been convinced to get out the frier for pickles.  However, since the frier was already out for the fried chicken, it was hard to refuse my request to make fried pickles.

oh, and some double fried french fries…

and some fried shrimp.

But today I am only interested in the pickles.  The other recipes can wait.

They are pretty easy to make and quite tasty.  Yes!Chef! added a spicy spin to the dip by adding Sriracha.  You can delete it if you want, but you will be missing out.

Get some good quality pickles.  If you are like me (a veritable pickle connoisseur), you can tell a great pickle from an average or even good pickle by the smell. We used Claussen Kosher Dill Halves, but use any good pickle that you like.  We cut them in half.  If we were to do it again, we would cut them into bite size pieces about 1 1/2-2″‘ long at the most.  The reason?  The pickles are hot and so smaller pieces are better.  But the real reason is so that you don’t double dip in the very tasty dipping sauce.  The pickles were too long to eat in one bite (and too hot), so we were forced to double dip.  It’s okay, though, because we are married.

Make the tasty dipping sauce first and let the flavors get to know each other.

Yes!Chef! patted the pickles dry and then tossed them around with flour.  Then he made up the beer batter and dipped the pickles in the batter.

Make sure the oil is up to temperature before you put them in and then fry them up.  When they turn a nice shade of brown, they are done!

Here is the result.

Here is the recipe:

(This recipe was adapted by one found on Food Network🙂

You will note, if you follow the above link, that the Food Network recipe called for a mayonnaise style dip.  We both thought that the dip would be too heavy to serve with the fried pickles, so Yes!Chef! whipped up a spicy yogurt dill sauce as follows:

• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (you can use regular yogurt, but we like the texture of Greek Yogurt best.)
• 1/2 to 1 clove garlic, chopped fine (I think 1/2 clove of garlic is sufficient, but if you want more…)
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix this all together and set it aside to wait for the pickles. If it is too thick, you can thin it out with a little buttermilk.

Here’s the recipe for Beer Batter and Pickles found on Food Network:

Beer-Battered Kosher Dills

 

They remain hot for a little while, but eat them right away!  Don’t worry.  Once you taste them you will eat them right away, anyway.  They were hot, garlicky and spicy (with the sauce.)  The batter is enough for much more than the 5 little dill halves.  It’s okay to make more.

Although, I would prefer not to be snowed in, it was quite beautiful to be in Tahoe during this storm because the fall leaves were still visible on the Quaking Aspens. I drove around a little after my friends had left and took some pictures.

I wish my friends could have tasted Yes!Chef!’s fried pickles…maybe next year.