They don’t call it Fat Tuesday for nothing – this time of the year, indulging your cravings is a tradition! We know you can easily find recipes for traditional entrees and appetizers to feed all your Mardi Gras festivities, so we decided to share some of the more outlandishly delicious recipes from our 2019 State Fair of Cookbook. These over-the-top recipes were all concocted by ribbon-winning Texans who participated in our Creative Arts cooking competitions. Eat your heart out and get inspired to enter a recipe of your own in 2020!
MY BIG FAT GREEK SANDWICH
By Mary Ehrenberger
from Dallas, TX
1st Place – Meatball Challenge
Garlic Yogurt Sauce:
1 c. Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely
minced or grated
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 heaping T. chopped fresh dill
½ tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Mix all sauce ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
1 T. olive oil
1 sm. onion, quartered & thinly sliced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1kg. garlic clove, peeled & finely minced or grated
1 bag Cooked Perfect Angus beef meatballs (20 ct.)
2 T. water
1 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. chopped fresh mint
Salt & pepper to taste
1 pkg. plain flat bread (5 ct.)
Shredded lettuce
Sliced tomatoes
Meatballs: Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and dried oregano. Sauté until softened, stirring frequently. Add garlic, meatballs, and 2 tablespoons water. Stir to combine. Put a lid over skillet and reduce heat. Cook until meatballs are heated through. With the bottom of a cup, gently smash meatballs to flatten slightly. Stir in feta cheese, parsley and mint. Taste and season as desired with salt and pepper. Heat flat breads in a skillet or on a griddle. You can also heat them wrapped in a slightly damp towel in the microwave for one minute.
To assemble: place one flat bread on a plate. Spread about two tablespoons of garlic yogurt sauce over one half. Top with two tomato slices and some shredded lettuce. Top with about 4 meatballs and some of the cheese/onion mixture. Fold over and serve warm. For smaller sandwiches, cut in half. Makes 5 large or 10 small.
TEXAS STICKY BUNS
By Elizabeth Ruzicka
from Dallas, TX
1st Place–Bread Contest
Dough:
½ c. Milk
½ c. Water
¼ c. granulated sugar
½ c. Butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple extract
1 tsp. Salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 pkg. fast rising yeast
4 to 4 ½ c. flour
Heat milk, water, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, maple extract and salt together to lukewarm. Stir until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted. Stir in eggs and yeast; mix well. Add 1 cup flour. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining flour gradually, using just enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough, adding more flour as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky, about 4 minutes. Place dough in lightly greased bowl. Cover with damp paper towels. Let rise in a warm place (75° to 85°) until doubled, about 40 minutes.
Syrup for Pan:
4 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ c. packed dark brown sugar
½ tsp. maple extract
½ c. maple syrup
2 T. Texas bourbon
Combine butter, sugar, syrup, extracts and bourbon. Spread evenly in 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Filling:
2 T. butter, melted
1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
¾ c. packed dark brown sugar
Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Roll out to rectangle 18 x 14 inches. Brush with melted butter, leaving a small border. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over dough. Starting at long side, roll up tightly jellyroll-fashion; seal lengthwise edge. Cut into 15 equal pieces. Dip one cut-side of each slice in pan to coat with syrup. Flip and place in pan; space evenly. Cover with a damp paper towel: let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden. Leave in pan for 4 minutes then invert onto serving platter.
TOMATO MICHELADA BEER BREAD
By Durrine Kilgore
from Grapevine, TX
2nd Place – Farm to Fork Contest
Bread:
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped finely (about 1 ½ c.)
½ tsp. chili-lime salt
½ tsp. Worcestershire powder
3 c. self-rising flour
3 T. sugar
1½ c. Michelada beer, room temp.
4 T. melted butter, divided
Preheat oven to 375°. Butter a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside. Place chopped tomatoes in a small bowl. Mix in the chili-lime and Worcestershire powder; let sit for about 15 minutes. Drain liquid from tomatoes. Mix flour, sugar and tomatoes in a large bowl. Add beer and 3 tablespoons melted butter, stirring together until smooth. Spoon batter into loaf pan. Drizzle top with remaining melted butter. Bake bread for about 45 to 50 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove bread from oven and after 5 minutes, turn upside down onto a cooling rack. Wait until bread cools completely before slicing.
Tomato Honey Butter:
1 Roma tomato, chopped finely (about 2 c.)
6 T. butter, softened
1 T. honey
¼ tsp. chili-lime salt
Place chopped tomatoes in a small bowl. Add chili-lime salt and let sit for about 15 minutes. Drain liquid from tomatoes. Combine tomatoes, softened butter and honey together until mixed well. Serve along with bread.
THAT’S ALL I GOT TO SAY ABOUT THAT GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE
by Jenny Luckinbill
from Richardson, TX
2nd Place – Chocolate!
Cake:
1 c. Coke
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. plain yogurt
½ c. Buttermilk
½ c. Butter
2 eggs
4 oz. German sweet chocolate
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 c. flour
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 1/3 c. sugar
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans. Heat on low until all is melted, stirring frequently, Coke, yogurt, butter and German sweet chocolate. Mix flour, sugar and baking soda. Mix buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and vegetable oil. Fold all ingredients together and using mixer, blend well. Pour into cake pans equally and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Cool cakes.
German Chocolate Icing:
2 c. evaporated milk
1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
6 egg yolks
Pecans & coconut to taste
Heat above ingredients, except pecans and coconut, on low approximately for 20 minutes, slightly bubbly. Stir frequently. Add pecans and coconut until desired consistency is reached. Ice cooled cake as desired.
COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS ICE CREAM
(Proof that ice cream is a perfectly acceptable breakfast food)
By Kate S. Rovner
from Plano, TX
2nd Place – Ice Cream Freeze-Off
1 ½ c. whole milk
1 ½ c. heavy cream, divided use
1½ c. whole coffee beans (1 used White rock Coffee cold French brew)
¾ c. Sugar
1/8 tsp. Salt
2 glazed yeast doughnuts coarsely chopped
5 egg yolks
¼ tsp. vanilla
In a 3-quart saucier stir milk, ½ cup cream, coffee beans, sugar, salt and doughnuts with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover; remove from heat and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour. Pour remaining cream into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup and set a fine-mesh strainer on top. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks. Rewarm coffee and doughnuts cream mixture over medium-low heat. Add a ladle of warmed milk mixture to egg yolks and whisk thoroughly; repeat. Pour in remaining milk mixture and whisk to thoroughly combine. Return to saucier. Clip on thermometer. Stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute until temperature reaches 170°. Pour custard through strainer and into cream, pressing on coffee beans and doughnuts to extract flavor. Add vanilla to custard and whisk to combine. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of custard and refrigerate for 4 hours until cold or preferably overnight. Freeze Ice Cream: Pour chilled custard into freezer container of an electric ice cream freezer: freeze 15 minutes. Serve immediately soft serve ice cream, or transfer to a container, press plastic wrap directly on top of ice cream, cover and freeze for hand-dipped ice cream. Makes 1 quart, 4 servings.