Deep Fried Butter & Other Big Tex Choice Award Delicacies Available At The State Fair Of Texas

The 2009 Big Tex Choice Awards 8 finalists were revealed this morning. The winners will be named on Labor Day.

You can start eating these wholesome, tasty treats when the State Fair of Texas starts up September 25. You'll have til October 18 to do some exotic food sampling.

Of the final 8 goodies, the Deep Fried Butter concoction seems, to me, the most, uh, interesting. The fryer's name is Abel Gonzales. Abel whips butter til it gets all fluffed up, then he sweetens it before wrapping it in dough. Then the dough is dropped into the boiling oil and stuck on a stick.

Butter on hot bread is tasty. So I can see where this might taste good. But, when you bite into the dough, it seems like butter is going to be squirting out. Messy.

Nick Bert figured he could improve a Texas Pecan Pie by deep frying. So, he batters up a piece of pecan pie, tosses it in the boiling oil, puts some caramel sauce on it and calls it Fried Texas Pecan Pie.

That is too much sweet for me.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very nutritious. So much so, they are known as superfoods. Milton Whitley takes the superfood, spiral cuts it, deep fries it, then sticks the sweet spud on a skewer after which he rolls it in butter, sprinkles sugar and cinnamon on top and hands you Twisted Yam on a Stick.

I like sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries. I'd eat the Twisted Yam on a Stick. Maybe.

I have had what is called a State Fair Corny Dog at the State Fair. I like corn dogs. I also like seafood. Mark Zabel has figured out a way to combine seafood with a corn dog with his Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp. The shrimp dogs are coated with spicy, sweet corn meal before hitting the fryer. Instead of mustard these dogs have a spicy glaze.

The shrimp corn dog sounds good.

I like pork. Glen Kusak thinly slices pork loin into chips, batters the chips in corn meal, then fries them before serving up his Country Fried Pork Chips with ketchup or cream gravy.

I'm thinking no on the battered fried pork.

Fernie, with no last name, has concocted Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream. Fernie coats peach slices with a batter made of coconut, graham cracker, eggs, milk, cinnamon and ginger before turning it crunchy in hot grease. Then the peaches get a raspberry sauce drizzle, with streusel on top of the drizzle and whipped cream to top it all off.

Way too much sweet for me. Although one bite might be tasty. I like peaches.

Shirley Weiss has come up with something that I could be induced to eat. Green Goblins. She stuffs hollowed out peppers with spicy chicken and guacamole before battering and the requisite frying. You get 3 peppers on a skewer topped with melted cheese.

Maybe the batter is like what's on a chile relleno, that being my favorite Mexican dish. I'd go for the Green Goblins, I think.

I like macaroons. I'm not a fan of peanut butter cups. Shirley London has combined the two with her Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon. The peanut butter cup is surrounded by the macaroon, then fried, followed by a powdered sugar dusting.

Ugh, the deep fried macaroon sounds like way too much greasy sweetness.

So, there you have it, this year's Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. Green Goblins and Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp for the win.