RECIPE: Southern Fried Pickles

At Hail Mary’s in Bozeman, Justin Banis fries up Roots’ crunchy pickle spears in a thoroughly Southern way — bathed in buttermilk and coated in cornmeal.

Southern Fried Pickles
Recipe courtesy of Justin Banis

Neutral oil for frying, like peanut, canola or grapeseed
2 cups buttermilk
1 jar Roots Kitchen & Cannery dill pickle spears
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Ranch or another creamy sauce, to serve

| Preparation | Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl. Drain pickle spears and add to the buttermilk to marinate for a bit.

In another bowl, mix cornmeal, salt and pepper and then, in small batches toss the pickle spears in the cornmeal. When you’re finished coating the spears, drop the first batch you tossed in cornmeal into the oil to fry (allowing the coating to stay rest for a few minutes prior to frying helps it to adhere). Allow the spears to brown on one side and turn them so they brown evenly. Remove to a towel to drain and fry the next batch(es). Serve hot with ranch or another creamy sauce of your choice.