Fair season in the O.C. is upon us.  The G family loves the fair for many different reasons.   Mr. G and I love trying the  various foods offered.  We used to seek out the Australian Battered Potatoes, but have since moved onto the Texas Sized Maple Bacon Donut.  For the most part, the fried menu items don’t interest us as much as they used to.  Probably because our stomachs really can’t handle the grease anymore.

Our boys love all the rides, and playing the games to win yet another stuffed animal to add to the menagerie.  They also love the corn dogs and the roasted corn.

I can remember loving corn dogs at the fair when I was little.  For some reason they taste much better there.  It has to be the ambiance that enhances their flavor.

We live 45 minutes from the above mentioned fair.  We will most likely go once during the season.  So if any of the G family wants to eat a corn dog any other time of the year we must venture off to the frozen food aisle or make our own.  I’m sure you can guess which one I prefer.

I’m going to go off onto a completely differently tangent for a bit and then come back full circle.  Bear with me.

Recently, I was invited to Melissa’s Produce Hatch Chili Cookbook Launch Event.  Their wonderful chefs Ida Rodriguez and Marco Zapien made a delicious lunch for us with Hatch Chili as the main ingredient in every dish.

For those of you who have never had a Hatch chili grace your presence, let me introduce you.  The chili is grown in a region of New Mexico, surprisingly named, Hatch.   Hatch is the perfect breeding grounds for this chili due to the hot days and cool evenings.

They are large, green peppers, with a waxy appearance, similar to an Anaheim pepper.  The heat sneaks up on you and builds, but it is not an unbearable heat.

The growing season is only 6 weeks, and usually begins the first week of August.  The estimated start of the 2013 season is August 8th.  The most interesting part about the chili is that it can vary in heat from mild to hot.   They are wonderful roasted or used in the powder form.

It was fun tasting each of the 15 items, with the chili being used differently in the individual dishes.  My favorites were the *Honey Mustard Pretzel Crunch, Chocolate Chip cookies, Chicken Salad Sandwich and the Cornbread.  But the item that pushed the menu over the edge was the hatch chili lemonade.  Each guest added their own hatch chili ice-cube to fresh lemonade.  It was refreshing, sour, sweet and spicy.  Perfect.

After I left the event, warmed by the heat of the chilies, I immediately started pondering how to use them in a healthy dish.  On my way home I saw a billboard for the O.C. Fair, and started dreaming of the food.  That is when it hit me.  I said to myself, “I bet the hatch chili powder would be awesome in the corn dog batter!”.

There are times when my ideas and reality don’t mesh well.  There have been many disasters.  I can say without question that my little experiment worked well.  I was able to concoct a healthy version of a spicy corn dog.

In this recipe I took an organic, nitrate and preservative free hot dog, and covered it with a sweet and spicy hatch chili and honey cornbread coating.  To leave room in my arteries for the fatty fair version, I baked this version.  I replaced the milk in the mix for club soda for a fluffier texture.  Coconut oil replaced the vegetable oil.  I used foil boats (see pic to the left) to maintain their form.  Although, they still took on a funky shape, they still looked like the original version.

This substitution will knock your socks off and even make your nose run a little.  You won’t have to feel guilty about eating these.  Just remember, even though they are healthier, they are not low-fat.  So remember to share with a neighbor or two.

Recipe

1 box Natural Honey Corn bread mix (I used Krusteaz)

3/4 cup to 1 cup club soda (depending on thickness of batter , it must stick to the dog)

1 egg (room temp)

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 1/2 teaspoons mild hatch chili powder (this will be remotely spicy, adjust to your tastes)

10 -12 organic, nitrate, preservative free hot dogs (Applegate is wonderful)

10 -12 Popsicle sticks or skewers

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Make foil boats for the amount of hot dogs you have.  Place each boat side by side on a cookie sheet.  Spray each boat with olive oil cooking spray.

Thread a skewer or Popsicle stick into each hot dog.  Leave enough room for a handle.

Pat each hot dog dry with a paper towel.  Roll each dog into the dry corn dog mix.  Set aside.

Mix the remainder of ingredients in box until combined.

Using a spoon, cover each dog with the cornbread mixture, till completely covered.  Shake any large clumps off into the bowl.  Set the covered dog in the foil boat.  Repeat till all dogs are covered.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until completely cooked and slighting golden.

Chef’s Note:

If your kids won’t touch spicy with a ten foot pole, divide the mixture in half and only add half of the hatch powder to one half.   Or don’t. 

Servings: 12 • Size: 1 corn dog • Calories: 273 • Fat: 14.4g • Carb: 28.9g • Fiber: 1g • Protein: 9g • Sugar:  10.7g • Sodium: 686mg • Cholesterol: 38mg

*Melissa’s Hatch Chili cookbook contains the recipes for the dishes that were made for the event.  I highly recommend purchasing one!

I was not compensated for this post.  However, I did take home a cookbook, and hatch chilis from the event.  Thank you Melissa’s!

Thank you to marthastewart.com for the photo inspiration.