Maggie Vaughn, Shepherd Express
It's that wonderful time of year again, when people come together over their love of cream puffs, washed up 90s bands and auctioning cattle. As per usual, crazy fair foods are making the headlines, many of them the on-a-stick variety. I tried five foods-on-a-stick and came up with mostly winners.
Brewton on a stick, Water Street Brewery
I have no idea where the name Brewton came from, but the resulting item is most easily described as a spicy crab rangoon, but with chicken. Wonton wrapped are filled with a mixture of chicken, cream cheese, pepperjack, red jalapeno pieces and scallions. It's deep fried, put on a stick and served with an orange sriracha mayo-like concoction. It's a little bit spicy, creamy and crispy. I just wish they came more than two to an order.
Deep Fried Fat Elvis on a stick, Lakefront Brew Pub and Eatery
This little snack packs a decadent punch. A peanut butter cup is coated in banana-flavored batter, deep fried and topped with chocolate sauce and bacon pieces. The chocolate melts inside the crisp batter, and the peanut butter mixes with it in an unholy mix any PB+chocolate lover will appreciate. Surprisingly, the banana in the batter still comes through over everything else going on. The bacon adds a bit of needed crunch and salt. If you want to gild the lily, make it a sundae.
Deep Fried Pretzel Crusted Brownies on a stick, Saz's
This was the thing I was most excited to try, but as soon as I took my first bite, I knew it was a letdown. I imagined it being a gooey, fudgey brownie held together by salty pretzel pieces, but really it was just a chunk of cake with a thick coating of stale pretzels clinging to it. The cake (I'm calling it that because it was light and fluffy, unlike a brownie) had little chocolate flavor, and the flavor that was there was plasticy. At least it came with caramel sauce that went nicely with the pretzel coating.
Swiss Cheese and Rye on a stick, Hot Wisconsin Cheese
Holy cheese, Batman! I can only describe this one as a massive block of melted Swiss cheese with a popsicle stick comically poking out. It's battered in what I suppose it some sort of rye batter, though there was not much rye going on. The batter with thick, but it had to be, in order to hold the mass of cheese together. I love cheese, and even I was agog at how anyone could finish this thing. If you really, really love cheese, go for it.
Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly on a stick, Machine Shed
The Machine Shed will never let us down in the crazy food department, and this is no exception. Perhaps unlike some of their other creations, this one is actually really good. They use those little round PB+Js that are stored in the freezer, then coat them in batter and fry. The genius of using the pre-made sandwiches is that there's a layer of PB on each side of the bread, sandwiching the jelly and keeping it neatly tucked away so it doesn't explode in the fryer. The batter is light and crispy and the peanut butter is creamy and rich. Does Machine Shed sell milk? Because they definitely should.
All photos by Maggie Vaughn.
