Fair Food

With the Rosebud/Treasure County Fair just around the corner it gets me thinking of “Fair Food!”
Some “Fair Food” you can make but others you need special equipment that isn’t worth the expense. You are better off just waiting for the fair or another event where the “experts” bring those wonderful treats.

Corn Dogs

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
2 (16 ounce) packages beef frankfurters
16 wooden skewers
In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, sugar and baking powder. Stir in eggs and milk.
Preheat oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Insert wooden skewers into frankfurters. Roll frankfurters in batter until well coated.
Fry 2 or 3 corn dogs at a time for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels.

Cotton Candy
It’s candy floss in Great Britain, fairy floss to the mates in Australia, la barbe à papa, or Papa’s beard, to the French, and zucchero filato, or sugar thread, in Italy.
Since the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904, cotton candy has been an American indulgence especially fascinating to children.
This dessert can be made at home with the following recipe. I have never tried it - and probably won’t. I think I will wait and either go to Van’s and buy it in those packages or go to the Rosebud/Treasure County Fair and buy the Cotton Candy from one of the vendors. It is one thing I ALWAYS buy at the Fair.

Cotton Candy

3/4 lb loaf sugar
water
Put 3/4 pound loaf sugar in a small copper kettle; add sufficient cold water to cover half of the sugar and stir until it is melted; then place the kettle over a strong fire and boil the sugar to a crack (the 6th grade); add a few drops of vinegar, remove the kettle, dip it for a few minutes into cold water and let it cool off a little; if the sugar is spun when too hot the threads will be too thin and lumps will form; then place the kettle in a pan of hot water, or on the side of the stove, to keep the sugar warm; take a large knife in the left hand and hold it out straight before you; take a silver spoon in the right hand, dip it into the sugar without touching the bottom of the kettle and let some of the sugar run off the spoon; then spin long threads back and forth over the knife from right to left; after a considerable amount of sugar is spun in this way take it from the knife, lay on clean paper and spin the rest in like manner; when all is spun form the sugar into pompoms, garlands, bouquets, etc.
Half the sugar may be colored with cochineal to a delicate pink. The sugar should be spun in a place free from draughts and in clear and dry weather. The sugar is used for decorating and trimming dishes.

Another favorite that I can remember always getting when I was little and went to the fair in Great Falls was their lemonade. I would watch them freshly squeeze the lemons and oranges and then pour it over ice chips. It was so refreshing on a hot summer day.

Lemonade

1 c. sugar
1 c. water
peel of 1 orange
peel of 1 lemon
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1 c. canned orange juice, unsweetened
3 c. ice water
Gently boil sugar, 1 c water, lemon & orange peel for 8-10 minutes until sugar dissolves and mixture is syrupy. Remove peel and cool to room temperature. Pour syrup into large pitcher, add remaining ingredients & mix well. Add plenty of ice and stir to chill.

Kettle Corn. It is slightly sweet and salty at the same time and is a highly addictive snack. Unlike caramel corn, which is much sweeter and made by coating plain popped corn with a hot caramel syrup, kettle corn is perfectly balanced, and conveniently made in one pot with the sugar cooked right alongside the popping corn.

Kettle Corn

As the name suggests, kettle corn must be made in something approximating a kettle (we used a 4-quart saucepan with a lid); an air popper (which for conventional popcorn is great) simply won’t do. This makes a largish portion for one, but feel free to double it.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup popcorn kernels
2 tablespoons white sugar
kosher salt to taste
melted butter (optional)
In your saucepan, heat the oil and popcorn kernels over medium-high heat, shaking the pan to keep the kernels from burning. When the kernels are about to start popping, they will become slightly lighter in color, and most importantly, they will start to smell like popcorn. At this point, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels and cover. With the lid on, continue to cook the popcorn by gently shaking the pan over the heat. When the popping has slowed (don’t keep cooking until the very last kernel has popped, you will end up burning the sugar), remove the pan from heat and empty the popcorn into a large bowl. Toss with salt immediately (when the sugar on the popcorn is still hot and sticky, the salt will adhere to the kernels better) and sprinkle with melted butter if you like. Enjoy while still warm.
A place you can order Mushroom Popcorn is: http://www.starvingfarmerpopcorn.net/Mushroom.html

Funnel Cakes

2 2/3 cup flour - sifted
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons soda
2 eggs - beaten
1 1/3 cups milk
1/8 cup powdered sugar
Vegetable oil
Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. In a separate bowl, beat egg and milk together. Then slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet. Heat oil until a drop of flour “dances” on the top. Put batter in a plastic baggie and cut off the corner. Then squeeze the batter into the oil in a web pattern. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. May have to flip. Remove and immediately dust with confectioners sugar. ✍ Print this post