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I am a big fan of butter and anything described as having ‘buttery goodness’, so it’s no surprise I wasn’t turned off by the latest fad food at the Pacific National Exhibition – Deep Fried Butter. What was created in 2009 by a guy named Abel Gonzales, Jr for the Texas State Fair was hot topic at our PNE this year.
All the radio guys had been discussing this particular treat and mocking it’s merits incessantly, but I was immediately sold when the words ‘cream cheese’ and ‘powdered sugar’ were linked to the Deep Fried Butter balls. Can you get any more decadent than that, I say? Sign me up! Call me a cab! Move out of my way! Cream cheese and butter - together!
If you’re gonna say this is a heart attack waiting to happen then I say let me eat my butter balls while in line with the rest. I do the steel-cut oatmeal in the morning, salads and fresh fish as often as I can and I try to drink a few glasses of plain water every day (in between the red wine and coffee, of course). So, I do my thing to stay heart healthy.
Fair food is supposed to be fun, crazy and a once or twice a year indulgence along with Christmas. Nobody should be getting all Holier Than Thou about what should or should not be consumed. I won’t look horrified when you sink your teeth into that humongous caramel apple (they give me the heebbie jeebbies (sp?) actually) so don’t get grossed out when I want my comfort food of choice. Uh Huh! add finger wag here for emphasis and hand on hip.
What is Deep Fried Butter really like, you finally want to know? Imagine a little cube of butter about the size of your pinky nail wrapped in a bit of doughnut dough made with a little touch of cream cheese and then plopped in the deep fryer. What emerges is a cute, golden, ping pong-sized ball that is then sprinkled with powdered sugar. When you bite into it the melted butter is there, but it’s such a little bit, probably less than if you were to have a piece of hot buttered toast. Oh dear, I’m starting to sound like a lawyer for Deep Fried Butter. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you can’t convict my client, Deep Fried Butter, because dot dot dot.
Today is the last day of the PNE so if you want to try it you better git yerself down there pronto. If you’re not able to do that then I’ve found a recipe online by none other than the queen of lard herself, Paula Deen (And I don’t mean her size! I mean she undeniably loves to cook with butter!)
Paula Deen’s Deep Fried Butter Balls
Ingredients
* 2 sticks butter
* 2 ounces cream cheese
* Salt and pepper
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
* Peanut oil, for frying
Directions
Cream the butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper together with an electric mixer until smooth. Using a very small ice cream scoop, or melon baller, form 1-inch balls of butter mixture and arrange them on a parchment or waxed paper lined sheet pan. Freeze until solid. Coat the frozen balls in flour, egg, and then bread crumbs and freeze again until solid.
When ready to fry, preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
Fry balls for 10 to 15 seconds until just light golden. Drain on paper towels before serving.
Other deep fried fun stuff to try…
Deep Fried Ricotta Balls – by chef Mario Batali
Deep Fried Mac n Cheese – another one by Paula Deen… LOVE HER!
Deep Fried Tofu Balls – though this one is really too healthy to be in this category
Deep Fried Jelly Beans at the Calgary Stampede!
You only live once, folks. Is it really going to kill you to indulge every now and then? Unless you’re a diabetic, and then I take that back…Don’t do it! Add an extra lap to your run today and make a batch of Deep Fried Butter or Deep Fried Mac n Cheese. Your soul will thank you…
Goddess Tara
Jacquie Janzen Yee
Tracy Westerholm
Bonnie Johnson
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If I had read your review before going to the PNE (I didn’t go this year) I would have definitely given the Deep fried Butter Balls a try, simply because I like saying “Deep Fried Butter Balls” lol, but mostly because of the way you describe them, you should be a food critic!
However, I don’t think I would have personally even gone near the Kiosk simply because they are deep fried. Unfortunately we all don’t just indulge at the PNE and Christmas so I’d have to really want it to try something that decadent!
The deep friend Jelly beans make my teeth hurt just thinking about them!
I kept thinking about the Alec Baldwin Saturday Night Live talk show skit called Shweaty Balls while writing this piece. Hilarious. See if you can find it on youTube.
I loved Schwetty balls! Thanks for that!
I also love decadent food like the next North American but fat rolled in more fat and deep fried in more fat just doesn’t appeal to me. Just not my thing I guess, but don’t worry I make up for it with salty foods.
I have to say I was pretty grossed out to hear that in the US they have come up with something called the “Krispy Kreme burger” which is a cheese and bacon burger with a doughnut instead of a burger bun. 1,000 calories! Gag! http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/03/broadcasts/main1680067.shtml
Friends just returned from Argentina where they commented on how trim and fit everyone there was. Ya, I bet they don’t have Krispy Kreme burgers there! North America should maybe put their creative talents into healthier, lower caloric dishes me thinks.
I’m glad you enjoyed your butter balls though, Jacquie. You are certainly able to afford the odd deep fried butter ball now and again!
Okay that was disgusting! No wonder obesity, heart disease and diabetes is a problem! I wouldn’t even be interesting in that combination! I can’t even eat Krispy Kreme donuts because of how sweet they are!
I am going to go and cook my Salmon on the BBQ with lemon and parsley, fresh Chilliwack corn on the cob with a mixed vegetable medley on the side! And then no sugar added Bumble-berry pie from Krause farms! And maybe a smidgen of vanilla ice cream on top!
Tomorrow my run won’t be making up for what I ate tonight, and that always feels way better!
Tracy, your dessert of apple pie and ice cream is exactly what I’m talking about; treats in moderation as a treat. That’s what wrong with North America. We don’t get that there’s a place for treats and a time to eat properly. Sticking a couple of Krispy Kremes around a burger for dinner is so obscene…. I don’t even know where to start! And there a plenty of ‘salads’ you can order at restaurants (Tex-Mex, anyone?) that are way over 1000 calories!
My point is that we don’t need to deprive ourselves of the little treats that make us happy as long as we keep the bigger picture in mind. Moderation.
Anyone ever have a Snowball cookie at Christmas? Or a piece of shortbread? This is no different. What about a mocha with whipped cream on top? Pure fat added and probably much more than the Deep Fried Butter I described above.
The 4 friends I was with all gingerly shared my balls with me (hee hee) and agreed they were not at all what they’d imagined. Thought they were really good. I think just the name is what gets people going. No one batted an eye when Mary told of the scones she enjoyed piled 2 inches deep in Devonshire clotted cream in Britain this summer. The creator of Deep Fried Butter wanted controversy and he got it! lol
I think there are lots of wonderful low cal dishes out there, they just don’t get the press. Who goes to the fair for a plain, dry, roast beef sandwich, no mayo (well, I did, but that’s why I could indulge in the Deep Fried Butter!)
We have to learn to make choices that are good for us. Restaurants and supermarkets won’t.
You’re right Jacquie, the mocha with whip is killer, all the time but once in a blue moon it’s fantastic! Sometimes it’s just the name that can turn people off, deep fried butter balls! Probably very similar to Honey’s Donuts in Deep Cove, which are covered in honey and dripping with goodness. But again not all the time.
I love Fat Burger because it’s the closest burger to homemade I have come across, not high in fat at all. The patty is not greasy or high in fat content but lean. Most people have the impression it’s about the fat content not the size of the burger if you choose to put all the veggies on it!
Love this post!