Chicken-fried lobster leads Texas State Fair finalists

Just when you think the Texas State Fair has exhausted every fried food possibility, it unveils a few more glorious, gut-busting combinations.

Like chicken fried lobster, deep fried alligator egg and smoky bacon margarita. Those are just a few of the jaw-dropping finalists for this year’s Big Tex Choice Awards, which were revealed early Tuesday at Fair Park. The winners will be chosen Sunday, Aug. 30.

Here are the eight finalists:

Chicken fried lobster with champagne gravy: Abel Gonzales, a former Big Tex Award winner, has outdone himself with an entire lobster tail, breaded and deep fried. It’s served with a lemon butter and champagne gravy. No word yet on cost, but you may want to bring your ATM card.

Cowboy corn crunch: A mixture of sweet corn, minced jalapeño, cream cheese and a hint of smoky bacon, it’s all served in a palm leaf cone -- because that’s how the Texas State Fair rolls.

Deep fried alligator’s egg nest: Call this one Big Tex on the bayou. It’s deep fried alligator meat with Monterey Jack cheese, chopped jalapeños, onions and garlic. Bobby Boucher’s momma would approve.

Fernie’s Holy Moly Carrot Cake Roly: Carrot cake, raisins, graham crackers and cinnamon are rolled and fried and then drizzled with cream cheese frosting and dusted with powdered sugar. There’s also a caramel macchiato cream sauce, just in case you haven’t gone into sugar shock yet.

Fried beer-battered buffalo: It’s the debut of buffalo meat at the Big Tex Choice Awards, and it comes flavored with a Mesquite smoke and rolled in Pequin chili pepper, known as the official native pepper of Texas. The beer batter is made from Shiner Bock, naturally.

Lone Star pork handle: A bone-in, marinated pork chop is dipped in batter made from Lone Star beer. It’s finished with a bourbon barbeque glaze. The bone is the handle. Just think giant turkey legs, except with pork.

Pretzel-crusted pollo queso: Shredded chicken is combined with cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, cilantro and Sriracha sauce. It’s all rolled into a ball and crusted with a pretzel breading. It’s served with a jalapeño ranch dipping sauce.

Smoky bacon margarita: Because everything’s better with bacon, this sweet and savory drink adds some to a frozen lime margarita. It comes in a collectible cup, so you’ll never forget that time you drank a margarita with bacon.

This year’s creative concoctions follow in the grease-stained footsteps of State Fair classics liked fried bubblegum, fried butter and last year’s Most Creative winner fried beer -- better known as Funnel Cake Ale.

The Best Taste winner from 2014 was fried gulf shrimp boil. In 2013, the winner for most creative was a fried Thanksgiving dinner. So, you see, the sky is the limit.

The 2015 Big Tex Choice Awards will be chosen Sunday, Aug. 30, and celebrity judges will include Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris and chef John Tesar, among others.

A select few fried food fanatics can buy $100 tickets to be among the first to taste the creations at a ceremony at the Tower Building at Fair Park before the winners are revealed. Limited seats available.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 7:29 AM with the headline "Chicken-fried lobster leads Texas State Fair finalists."