Seattle Snacking

Eating My Feeling for the Super Bowl

It’s hard to care about anything right now outside of the political chaos in the US. I catch myself staring out into space twenty times a day, numbly waiting for an obituary alert that is long overdue. This is no way to live. So this weekend, I’m distracting myself and rooting for the Seahawks.

Historically, I don’t care about the Super Bowl outside of snacks. I love a good food spread, regardless of the reason. But this year, I’m all in on the Seahawks. Kyria and I moved up to Seattle last summer and it feels like we brought some good luck to this gorgeous city. The Mariners had a great run once we got up here and now the Seahawks have the chance to win it all. We’re pretending like we’re the lucky charm the Emerald City has been missing. It’s a stupid way we’re entertaining ourselves but who doesn’t like to feel like they’re a main character in a big city? The Seahawks need us to watch and cheer. We just know it.

Is Seattle beautiful? Photo by Kyria via a plane

Last week, I shared my queso recipe with you guys to help get your Super Bowl spread all dialed in but I’ve got one more up my sleeve for all the procrastinators out there. If you’re looking for a meaty main, my BBQ JackFruit sliders have you covered. They are great for crowds full of less adventurous eaters, kids, or people who would generally turn their noses up at anything covered in barbeque sauce that wasn’t meat. They’re delicious and this recipe makes enough for a party without a huge amount of effort. Sure you could serve them as BBQ sandwiches instead of sliders to make a meal of it but I’ll leave that choice up to you. I chose sliders.

A few things you should know about jackfruit if this is your first-time cooking with it. While you can occasionally find fresh jackfruit in some grocery stores, that’s not what we’re using here. You want to buy unripe or young jackfruit canned in water or brine, not syrup. You can find this in lots of grocery stores now stocked near the coconut milk or, weirdly, near the canned fruits and pumpkin at the store. Inside the cans, you’ll find big chunks of jackfruit floating around in a watery brine. When you are ready to get cooking, drain the jackfruit in a colander and rinse the chunks off with cool water. Place the rinsed jackfruit on your cutting board and with the broad side of your knife, press down on the chunks of jackfruit so that they split apart. Then rough chop them and remove any of the hard seeds you see. They’ll be obvious so don’t stress. Now your jackfruit is ready for use.

This recipe calls for store-bought BBQ sauce to save you some time. Just grab whatever you love. I like the sliders topped with my celery seed slaw, extra bbq, some thinly sliced onion, and some dill pickles. But no matter how you dress them, the jackfruit is the star. Any leftover jackfruit goes great on nachos with my queso from last week or wrapped up in a burrito with all the fixings. You can’t go wrong.

Next week, we’re back to fighting fascism but this Sunday, I’m shouting “Go Hawks” at the top of my lungs.

BBQ Jackfruit Sliders

Makes 18 sliders or 6 individual sammies

1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

8 cups chopped, unripe or young jackfruit (approximately four 14-ounce cans, drained and rinsed)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos or soy sauce

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 tablespoon your favorite no-salt all-purpose seasoning

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 ¼ cup your favorite barbecue sauce, plus more for serving

Spray oil

To serve: buns, BBQ sauce, sliced red onions, your favorite coleslaw, and pickle slices

Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and the onion, and sauté till the onion is golden, about 8 minutes. Add the chopped jackfruit and stir until it begins to stick to the pan, 3 to 5 minutes. While the jackfruit cooks, mix the tomato paste, Braggs, and liquid smoke together in a small glass until there aren’t a bunch of tomato paste chunks floating around in there. Don’t be sloppy now, you’re so close to being done.

Drizzle the tomato paste mixture over the jackfruit and toss it all around so it’s incorporated into the jackfruit. Sprinkle over the all-purpose seasoning, paprika, and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes so that all the flavors get a chance to work into the jackfruit. If there starts to be lots of burnt bits at the bottom of the pan, add some water a tablespoon at a time to help you scrape that shit up. You want that flavor. Add the barbeque sauce to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes so that all that jackfruit gets covered in sauce and everything gets a chance to warm back up.

Once that is done, turn off the heat and turn your broiler up to high. Spray some oil over the top of the jackfruit and stick it under the broiler for up to 5 minutes until the jackfruit starts to look a little burnt in some spots. See the above video to see how it should look. Take it out, stir, and repeat the process at least 2 more times to get some good burnt parts on the jackfruit. This is annoying but totally fucking worth it. It makes the jackfruit have a much deeper and more savory taste. It’s basically the secret to the whole thing.

Serve warm or at room temperature on buns slathered with extra BBQ sauce, topped with sliced red onions, your favorite slaw, and some dill pickles slices.

Bbq Jackfruit Sliders

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Tomorrow, paid subscribers are getting a bunch of ideas on what to make their sweethearts for Valentine’s Day. Want to be my Valentine? You know what to do.

Are you watching the Super Bowl this weekend or are you busy screaming into the void and melting ice? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,

Michelle