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.

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