The Country Fair has been in full twirling whirling mode for the past 10 days.  Every day on my drive to work I’m amazed at how it has transformed the space the Farmers’ Market occupied all summer long.  Each morning at the office I can overhear recaps from those who attended ‘the fair’ the evening prior.

Sure the Giant Rat, and Alligator Wrestlers, and Rodeo Riders get a mention, but overwhelmingly it’s the food that is most talked about.  “How on earth do they deep fry Kool-Aid?” or “Krispy Kreme Burgers….are you kidding me?”  County & State Fair’s Food Vendors seem to try to one up each other….or at least outdo last year’s creations.

Of all the new fair food for 2012 I read about….Spaghetti & Meatball on a Stick was the one that caught my attention.  Mostly because it really wasn’t that outrageous (but brilliant) and I could actually see my ‘fun mom’ friends making these for their kidlets.  This creation debuted at the Minnesota State Fair, where you could buy a “Meatball Dinner” for $4.00.

Here is our first attempt….and the test kitchen critics give them an ‘A’ for effort with just a few recipe adjustments required…cook them a tad longer and make more of them.

Combine cooked spaghetti with your favorite meatball mixture.  Form them into meatballs….it took a couple minutes to get everything incorporated….but they will come together.

Bake the meatballs at 350 for about 20 minutes, turning once to get them mostly cooked.

Then into the garlic bread batter (boxed baking mix, milk, and garlic powder…remember this is fair food, not fine dining).  Finally into hot oil for a swim until they are deep brown.

Serve them on a stick, with a side of marinara sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  Definitely Fun Fair Food!!  Might try to lighten these up and make them with ground turkey and spaghetti squash rolled in garlic bread crumbs and baked.  Sorry, that was a lame attempt at appearing to be health conscience.  Clearly that’s not the focus of fair food vendors, nor mine with this recipe.  Enjoy!!

Check out our post on Fabulous Fair Food {Outrageous Creations}.  And my attempt to create a favorite childhood treat ‘Fair Style.’  Meet the Inside Out Dusty Miller Sundae.

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Spaghetti & Meatball on a Stick {Fabulous Fair Food}

Course Fun Fair Food

Author MN State Fair inspired, recreated by Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the meatballs…

• 1 1/2 oz. cooked spaghetti
• 1/2 cup ground beef
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 Tbl. Parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• pinch salt & pepper

For the garlic bread batter…

• 1 cup baking mix
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

For the sauce…

• 1/2 cup basic tomato sauce
• Canola oil for deep frying

Assembly…

• Parmesan cheese for final sprinkle
• Sticks for serving

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For the meatballs…

• Cook spaghetti, drain, and set aside.
• Mix all remaining meatball ingredients, then add spaghetti.
• Using hands gently incorporate spaghetti into meat mixture.
• Form into 10 spaghetti meatballs about 1 1/2″ around and placed on foil lined baking sheet, coated with cooking spray.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn meatballs over and cook for another 10.
• Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

For garlic bread batter…

• Heat canola oil to 375 degrees.
• Combine baking mix with milk and garlic powder; mixture will be thicker than pancake batter and a little thinner than biscuit dough.
• When oil is up to temp (use a candy thermometer or when a piece of bread dropped in the oil sizzles and turns brown…without burning).
• Individually dip the meatballs in batter, completely coating them, then gently add to oil, cooking only two meatballs at a time, turning in oil to insure even cooking.
• When cooked to a deep brown, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
• Continue until all meatballs have been batter fried.

For the sauce…

• Prepare basic tomato sauce or open a jar of your favorite marinara sauce.

Assembly…

• Put two meatballs on each stick, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, serve with a side of marinara sauce.

The post Spaghetti & Meatballs on a Stick {Fabulous Fair Food} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

The Country Fair has come to town.  Just a few blocks from my office, where my Farmers’ Market used to sit, is now a whirling twirling full blown fair.  No shortage of rides & attractions, tractors & steam engines, pigs & chickens, rodeo riders & alligator wrestlers, and a myriad of Fabulous Fair Food vendors.

All across this country, State & County Fairs are trying to one up each other on who can put out the most outrageous food options.  The days of cotton candy, corn dogs, and popcorn, have been kicked up…..I decided to do a little Fair Food research to see if I could timeline some of these crazy creations.

In 2010, we were introduced to the Corn Dog Cheese Pizza, Deep Fried Bologna (Corn Dog Style), Chicken Fried Bacon, the Chocolate Tornado (a spiral cut potato, deep fried, on a stick, dipped in chocolate), and my favorite Deep Fried Beer…for real (beer filled pretzel pocket, deep fried).

In 2011, the Deep Fried Salsa balls made their debut (salsa ingredients rolled into a ball, dipped in masa, covered in crushed tortilla chips, and deep fried), Fried Bubble Gum (bubble gum flavored marshmallow, dipped in batter, deep fried), Deep Fried Kool-Aid (Kool-Aid infused cake batter, deep fried), Deep Fried Butter, and my favorite Red Velvet Funnel Cakes.

In 2012, a new batch of Fabulous Fair Food was introduced.  My Red Velvet Funnel Cakes were topped by Carrot Cake Funnel Cakes, Deep Fried Cupcakes, the Double Bacon Corndog (hot dog wrapped in bacon, deep fried, dipped in bacon bit batter, deep fried again), Philly Cheese Steak Egg Rolls, Deep Fried Jambalaya, and my favorite Spaghetti & Meatball on a Stick (cooked spaghetti blended with meatball mix, formed into a ball, dipped in garlic batter, and you guessed it…..deep fried).  Click here to see my attempt at recreating this one in my kitchen today.  Pretty tasty!!

I’ve been racking my brain this week trying to envision some outrageous creation that hasn’t been done.  The beauty of the internet is with the click of a button you can indeed confirm that most everything you can imagine has been deep fried and served on a stick.  But I think I have an original.  My favorite childhood treat was a Dusty Miller Sundae…vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, generous sprinkling of malted milk powder, topped with whipped cream.  Let’s turn it inside out….chocolate truffel, rolled in malted milk powder, encased in vanilla ice cream, coated in crunchy goodness….and deep fried.  Shall we give it a try?!!  We will call these Inside Out Dusty Miller Sundaes, deep fried and served on a stick!

The post Fabulous Fair Food {Outrageous Creations} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.