The Blessed Breakfast–a.k.a. Big Boy Plate, if you need a more unsettling name–is a freshly-baked buttermilk biscuit cut in two and piled high with two slices of ham, heaping portion of potato bites and scrambled eggs, and doused with sausage gravy, shredded cheese, and optional jalapeño slices. It’s served with another buttermilk biscuit to help mop up all the sauce.
The Pride of Iowa wrap rolls shredded pork shoulder and hickory-smoked bacon in a 12-inch jalapeño cheddar tortilla, alongside crumbled tortilla chips ,cheddar jack cheese, and chipotle mayo aioli, fresh avocado relish, and sweet corn salsa.
The Iowa Turkey Federation offers its Not Your Mamma’s Taco, a deep-fried tortilla stuffed with tender, seasoned shredded turkey, tomato-free mango salsa, and homemade veggie slaw. Not quite sure what precisely about this mothers in general or your mother in particular would dislike, but with or without her support, it was named the best new food of the fair.
The Duke is a cup of grilled corn and smoked sausage smothered in spicy BBQ sauce and topped with pepper jack cheese, pork rinds, and chives.
I love the Slopper for its name, although it’s really playing a “walking taco” game. The stand serves a cut-up, grilled foot-long hot dog in a bag of crushed Fritos and tops it all off with chili and cheese sauce, plus optional sauerkraut, sour cream, onions, pickles, and jalapeño peppers.
Bacon Cheddar Brat is a grilled pork brat sandwich with bacon and cheddar mixed into the patty. Because nothing says “respect for the animal” like stuffing it with its dead relatives.
The Ultimate Bacon Brisket Grilled Cheese takes “artesian-style” cheddar bread smothered in dry rub butter and dressed in provolone, farmer, and cheddar cheeses, plus shaved smoked beef brisket and applewood-smoked bacon. It’s grilled until golden brown and crispy.
Iowa State Fair 2016: (continued)
Starting our “on-a-stick” section, we have… This hardboiled egg. Ahem.
The Italian Bacon Wrap on-a-Stick is a deep-fried, bacon-wrapped link of Italian sausage. What, did you think there’d be bread or vegetables in there?
Deep-Fried Porkchop on-a-Stick.
Cheddar Bacon Cheese on-a-Stick is a hunk of cheddar cheese and bacon that’s battered and deep fried.
The Jalapeño Double Bacon Corndog is a bacon-wrapped corndog that has bacon bits and jalapeños in the batter.
These Loaded Tators on-a-Stick are balls of shredded potatoes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives, and bacon bits that are battered, deep fried, and skewered.
To make this Funnel Bacon on-a-Stick, thick strips of bacon are woven around a wooden skewer. They’re deep fried, dipped in funnel cake batter, and deep fried again, topped with your choice of maple butter cream, chocolate syrup, or caramel sauce.
Iowa State Fair 2016: (continued)
Continuing our “deep-fried” and “on-a-stick” trend, we have the Fried Fruit Kebab, which consists of strawberries, peaches, and pineapple, if you can taste it beneath all the batter and melted chocolate.
Both dessert, deep-fried, and on-a-stick, these Apple Fritter Bites are balled-up, deep-fried bits of doughy goodness. Served at a stand called Applishus, of course.
Ice Cream Nachos, featuring 16–yes, apparently someone counted them–cinnamon sugar chips, two scoops of cinnamon ice cream, and coverings of whipped cream, caramel and hot fudge syrups, chunks of caramel and chocolate, strawberries, candied nuts, and a cherry on top.
This Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll looks terrific and toothsome.
Among the many items offered chocolate-dipped and on-a-stick is the Caramel Cocoa Crispy Crunch, a frozen mix of caramel fudge, marshmallows, white chocolate chips, and cocoa crispies.
Mm… S’mores Sundae.
drumstikblog 