BBQ Sliders (Meat v. Plant-Based), and Asian Oven Wings

This foodventure is brought to you by a combination of using-up-all-the-meat … and … things-hanging-around-in-the-fridge … and … cooking with my very favorite kitchen partner, The Husband.  First we made our weekly potluck contribution (BBQ Sliders and Asian Oven Wings), which resulted in us no longer having meat in our house (to which I'm not sad at all)* -- and then by happenstance this evening I put together what look to be the same BBQ Sliders, except now they are Plant-Based.

* This doesn't mean we won't ever eat meat; but I don't plan to store it here anymore -- when we do eat it, we'll only buy fresh what we need for that instance.

Straightaway, here are the recipes, in order:

BBQ Sliders (meaty)

INGREDIENTS (measurements on this one are a little vague because, as I said, I was using things up that needed using):

• 3 pork hocks
• a pile of beef short ribs
• a couple chunks of chorizo
• some boneless pork butt (shoulder)
• the last inch or so of a half-gallon carton of apple cider
• several heaping teaspoons of minced garlic
• fresh thyme and rosemary
• a little bit of onion powder
• 3 stalks of celery (chopped)
• a salsa-sized jar (because that's how we store it) of BBQ sauce.  We used The Husband's super secret and best ever BBQ sauce; you can make your own sauce or pick whatever prepared kind you like.

PROCEDURE:

1. Put everything except the BBQ sauce into a large crock pot and cook on high for 6 – 7 hours, stirring occasionally, until all the meats are easily falling off their bones.
2. Separate all the meat from the inedible and undesirable bits (bones, cartilage, skin), and shred it. Then combine with the BBQ sauce.
3. Serve on slider buns with your favorite pickles.
4. Add cheese, or slaw, or anything else you want.

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Asian Oven Wings - recipe 100% by The Husband

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of tamari
• 3/4 cup of rice vinegar
• a splash of Cheongju (Korean rice wine)
• a splash of sesame oil
• 1 knob of ginger (grated)
• ~ 4 Tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 bunch of scallions (chopped)
• 2 Tablespoons of light brown sugar
• ~ 1 cup of water
• One dozen chicken wings

PROCEDURE:

1. Make a marinade by mixing everything except the chicken in a bowl.
2. Cut off and discard the wing tips, then separate the drumettes from the wingettes ... resulting in about 24 pieces.
3. Put the chicken and marinade into a zip-top bag, mix well, squeeze out the air, and let it sit in the fridge (inside a leakproof container so you don’t get chicken goop all over your fridge) for 24 hours, flipping the bag over once halfway through.
4. Remove from the marinade and bake on a sheet pan in a 375⁰ oven for 45 minutes (or until cooked through).
5. Enjoy!
6. (You could also boil and reduce the marinade down to form an additional sauce to pour over the cooked wings -- but we didn't do that because I dumped it down the sink too fast -- oops!)

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Jackfruit (Plant-Based) BBQ Sliders
-- I find it very amusing that a little bit of the filling fell out on the bottom left
just like it did with the original meat slider -- I swear this was not staged --

I basically followed Sam Turnbull's "6 Ingredient Pulled Jackfruit" recipe (with very minor deviations in ingredient amounts), so will write here in my own words exactly what I did...

INGREDIENTS:

• One 20-ounce can of Jackfruit in brine, sliced along the grain
• 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
• 1/2 of a Yellow Onion, sliced thin
• Several heaping teaspoons of minced garlic
• 1/2-cup of Vegetable Broth
• 1/2-cup BBQ sauce (I used Pepper Palace Cinnamon & Apples Barbeque Sauce** because that's what we had on hand with just the right amount left in the bottle)

** This BBQ sauce is technically not vegan because it has honey in it, but it's close enough for me.

PROCEDURE:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400⁰.
2. Sautée the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the onions are soft and start to brown.
3. Add the jackfruit and vegetable broth, stir well, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. "Mash" it all together with a potato masher.  The jackfruit should become shredded looking at this point.
5. Spread it out onto a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until it starts to dry out.
6. Mix in about 2/3 of the BBQ sauce and bake for 10-15 more minutes or until you start to see tiny "burnt" spots.
7. Serve on slider buns with your favorite pickles.

THE BOTTOM LINE? --- I would happily eat Jackfruit sliders any day instead of true meat sliders.  The sauce is what makes it, anyways, as far as I'm concerned.  But moreover, I know I've made a pretty excellent vegan food when I find myself feeling like I should eat less of it because my brain instinctively thinks it bad for me.  That's my gut reaction to my vegan chili, and is what's happening here. 

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This post contains original recipes that I and my husband created from scratch,
as well as one borrowed from another blogger.

My goal is to share my love of food simply -- without all the fluff (unless it's Marshmallow Fluff!), long winded stories, or incessant rambling that I see on other blogs and personally tend to skip over, just scrolling right to the bottom in hopes of finding the ingredients and instructions faster.  Therefore, I hope you appreciate the brevity above.

** You'll also never find ads here. **

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or

contact me directly using the form near the top of the right-hand column.

Curried Rice

We didn't prepare ahead of time for our weekly potluck like we usually do, so yesterday morning I found myself roaming around the kitchen working out what I could make using what we had on hand and without having to stop for groceries along the way.  This curried rice is what I came up with, and was pleasantly surprised by more than one "Wow" or "Damn, you nailed it" reaction.

This rice is Vegan / Plant-Based and Gluten Free.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of Slivered Almonds
• 1-2 Tablespoons of chopped Red Onion (because that's what was lying leftover in fridge)
• 2-3 Tablespoons minced Garlic
• 1 Banana Pepper, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2-3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt
• ground Black Pepper
• 4-5 cups of Vegetable Broth
• 2 cups of Basmati Rice
• 3+ Tablespoons of AuntieArwen’s Muchi Mughul Curry Blend
• 2 handfuls of Golden Raisins
• 2 handfuls of Regular Raisins
• 2 handfuls of Jabsons Nimboo Pudina flavor Roasted Chana
•  ~1/3 cup of Pepitas

PROCEDURE:

1. Toast the almonds in a dry pan until they start to brown.  Set aside.
2. In whatever pot you will use to cook the rice -- sauté the onion, garlic, and banana pepper in the olive oil with an amount of salt & pepper that is to your liking.
3. Once everything begins to soften, add 4 cups of the vegetable broth, all of the dry rice, and 3 Tablespoons of the curry powder.
4. Bring it to a boil, cover the pot, and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Stir occasionally.
5. About halfway through cooking, add the Raisins and the Roasted Chana.
6. Continue simmering and stirring occasionally until the rice is cooked all the way through, adding more vegetable stock and/or water if needed.
7. When the rice is done, taste and adjust the spices (salt, pepper, curry powder) if needed.
8. Finally, stir in the toasted almonds and pepitas, and serve.

This post is an original recipe that I created from scratch.

My goal is to share my love of food simply -- without all the fluff (unless it's Marshmallow Fluff!), long winded stories, or incessant rambling that I see on other blogs and personally tend to skip over, just scrolling right to the bottom in hopes of finding the ingredients and instructions faster.  Therefore, I hope you appreciate the brevity above.

** You'll also never find ads here. **

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or

contact me directly using the form near the top of the right-hand column.

Around the World in Foodventures (Spain: BACALAO AL PIL-PIL)

There are a lot of dishes from Spain that really grabbed me, sounded super delicious, and frankly would have made for a much sexier photo --  but I decided to put a pin in those for later exploration, and instead chose to make Bacalao Al Pil-Pil . . . because I'd never before heard of emulsifying oil with fish gelatine to create a sauce, and that seemed like an intriguing new skill to acquire.

Specifically from Basque Country, Bacalao Al Pil-Pil is unsurprisingly all about salt cod.  And while I can't say it's the most delicious thing I've ever tasted, it is yummy and quite hearty.  I certainly wouldn't reject it if I came across it again.

All you need are four or five ingredients -- depending on whether you use any herbs -- and about a half hour (after 2 full days of soaking the fish to de-salt it, of course) to do a quick bit of chopping then babysit a pan.

With a bit of research, I settled on some combination of these four recipes and YouTube videos:

• https://www.bascofinefoods.com/spanish-recipes/bacalao-pil-pil-recipe/
• https://www.thespruceeats.com/cod-with-pil-pil-sauce-recipe-3083183
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HA_kF-5NsA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJOUFpJP3Q

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as I'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain

Butternut Squash & Cabbage Soup

This soup is Vegan / Plant-Based and Gluten Free.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large carrot (chopped)
• 2 large stalks of celery (chopped)
• 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
• An unholy amount of minced garlic (I dunno, it was probably 4 heaping spoonfuls)
• 1/2 of a butternut squash (chopped)
• 1/2 of a head of cabbage (sliced into thin strips)
• Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)
• 1 box (~ 4 cups) of vegetable stock
• 2-3 Tablespoons of AuntieArwen’s Muchi Mughul Curry Blend.
• Kosher salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Oil

PROCEDURE:

1. In a big pot with a little bit of oil at the bottom -- sauté the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Add some salt and pepper while this is happening.
2. Once things are mostly translucent -- add the butternut squash, vegetable stock, and curry powder.
3. Bring it all to a boil, then simmer until the squash is....squishy.
4. Using either a stick blender or by transferring the mix into a regular blender (in batches if necessary), puree the soup.
5. Add the cabbage, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until the cabbage is softened yet still retains some of its crunch.
6. Adjust the spices to your liking, and serve the soup topped with some pepitas.

This post is an original recipe that I created from scratch.

My goal is to share my love of food simply -- without all the fluff (unless it's Marshmallow Fluff!), long winded stories, or incessant rambling that I see on other blogs and personally tend to skip over, just scrolling right to the bottom in hopes of finding the ingredients and instructions faster.  Therefore, I hope you appreciate the brevity above.

** You'll also never find ads here. **

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or

contact me directly using the form near the top of the right-hand column.

Around the World in Foodventures (Sudan: MOUKHBAZA and KUINDIONG)

Sudanese sweets!  That's what I'm up to today.  Specifically, from the Eastern part of the country I made Moukhbaza (spicy mashed banana), and from the South came Kuindiong (a pudding of sorts).

They are both really easy, requiring simple ingredients and just a little bit of time.  And while neither is very exciting to look at, they're pretty unique and darn delicious.

If I had to pick one over the other, the Moukhbaza (shown here on the red plate) would be my 2nd place finisher today, because my oh my is that green bowl of Kuindiong good.  It's basically a cream of wheat -- but the topping (brought to life by literally frying plain, unsweetened yogurt in butter) somehow comes out tasting like caramel and puts it in the absolute win column.

Recipe for Moukhbaza: https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2016/11/recipe-sudanese-moukhbaza-something.html

Recipe for Kuindiong: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/sweetened-semolina-kuindiong

This post is part of my project: "Around the World in Foodventures" (I decided I want to expand my culinary horizons even further by making the national dish or a popular recipe, or some signature food or traditional meal from every country in the world. Maybe it'll happen alphabetically, or by region, in random order, or something else. I figure if we can't (yet?) travel everywhere, we at least have the luxury of being able to taste it. It’ll be fun and interesting, but obviously, will take a long time to get through -- as I'll only be doing it once a week or so at most. I am chronicling the journey here.)

“If I’m an advocate of anything, it’s to move…Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food.” --Tony Bourdain