Pickle Fried Chicken! Was it something I dreamed? I couldn’t find the recipe that I thought I had seen anywhere! I searched all of the food magazines I’d bought recently, even the not-so-recently, and then all of the none food magazines, too! I searched the internet, I looked in my files, but there wasn’t a Pickle Fried Chicken recipe anywhere, sigh—a memory is a terrible thing to waste.
Luckily, I did remember part of the recipe I thought I’d read: “brine the chicken in pickle juice until it turns a bit green… Stay with me here…!” I remember that part word-for-word!* So, that’s what I did! I brined chicken tenders in pickle juice for 30 minutes. For the battering and frying part I used a technique I had used before, and success! Pickle fried chicken—as tasty as I knew it would be! Next time, I think I will make Pickle Fried Poppers! I’ll cut the tenders into thirds and proceed as below, but probably cooking the chicken for a little less time. It’s time for the Olympics, and those would be great as part of a TV viewing dinner 🙂
BTW, while you’re making these, waiting for the Olympics coverage to air, watch “Cool Runnings”—what a great way to spend a Saturday!
PS. My elder daughter wants to try these in a sandwich—ciabatta, Thousand Island dressing, lettuce, Pickle Fried Chicken, and a few pickles—sounds YUM! (We made them! See the picture up top) And, years after posting this, there are plenty of pickle-brined recipes on the interwebs 🙂
Polly’s Pickle Fried Chicken
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. chicken tenders—8 or 9
- About 1 cup pickle juice drained from a jar of pickles
- 1 cup flour (divided use)
- ½ cup buttermilk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Oil for frying
DIRECTIONS
- Brine the chicken tenders in the pickle juice for approximately two hours.
- Put ½ cup flour in shallow bow, like a pie plate, ½ cup buttermilk in another shallow bowl, and ½ cup flour in third shallow bowl.
- Set a wire rack next to the third bowl.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper into both bowls of flour, and stir.
- In assembly line fashion, take each tender from the pickle juice, dredge in first bowl of flour, carefully dip and cover in buttermilk, then dredge in flour in the next bowl and then place on wire rack to dry for about 30 minutes.
6. Heat oil to 350°.
7. Add 2 or 3 pieces of chicken and cook for about 5 minutes.
8. You might need to test one. Don’t overcook the chicken!
9. Drain cooked chicken on a rack or on paper towel, and serve warm.
One of my daughters wanted Ranch Dressing on the side, but I just wanted a bit more salt—Maldon’s Sea Salt, of course 🙂
Olympics here I come! And if you stop by, I’ll have some Pickle Fried Poppers and Nanaimo Bars to share 🙂
*Found the source! This recipe was inspired by “Andy’s Pickle Fried Chicken”, page 113 in the magazine Mixing Bowl 2010—a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication.
