The Battle Over Pickle Juice

Pickle Chicken - what an odd word combo - let's be honest. Like... what does that even mean? Rumor has it Chick-Fil-A soaks their chicken in pickle juice before breading it and frying it - well if they do it and it's delicious - then why on earth can't I? First I bought Andy some fresh pickles from the store he likes - you see, I was going to steal his pickle juice. Oh, he got feisty! Nope, he wouldn't let me. So where on earth was I going to get it? Well... I had some sad sad pickles on the canning shelf that suffered from mush - so I drained those and used that juice instead. Secretly I still wanted to steal Andy's juice... Realistically I stink at cooking meat. Always. I succeeded at cooking all this chicken to proper temp - but it wasn't pretty... much of my breading fell off and let's be honest - it tasted good. Nicholas really enjoyed it and couldn't stop eating the chicken. The next few days after, I cut up the chicken and added it in mixed veggies - it was great. We will certainly do this again... I'll be saving my pickle juice from here on out... not to make Jello like my Dad's aunt... but to give my chicken a bath in.

Skillet Pickle Chicken
Ingredients
1¼ cups dill pickle juice
3/4 cup water
1½ lbs chicken tenders, raw chicken breast cut into strips will also work
5 tbsp white flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp kosher salt divided
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp oregano
6 tsp vegetable oil divided

Instructions
To Brine Chicken:
If using chicken tenders, trim the white tendon out of the top of the chicken tender. Lay raw tenders into a Tupperware or large bowl, then cover them with the pickle juice and water. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 8-10 hours. The longer the brine time, the more "pickle" taste will come through, but it's still very subtle after 10 hours.

To Cook Pickle Chicken:
In a bowl, add flour and spices, and stir together well. Set aside. Remove the raw chicken from brine, dab each piece of chicken dry with a paper towel, and then place into a plastic bag.
Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1 tsp vegetable oil, then massage the bag to make sure the chicken is completely coated.
Add seasoned flour to the baggie and shake the chicken well until the pieces are completely coated.
Warm up a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2.5 teaspoons of vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add half the chicken, and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown (And until internal temp reaches 160 degrees). Remove and set aside.
Put the remaining chicken in skillet and simply repeat the above instructions again. When the chicken is finished cooking remove from pan, set aside, and let it rest for 5-10 minutes as needed.