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May 11, 2017

Pineapple-Mushroom BBQ Jackfruit





My favorite pizza at the choose-your-own-topping place lately has involved a ton of mushrooms, fresh pineapple, roasted garlic, sweet cherry tomatoes, and ricotta on top of mozzarella cheese.  So when I came across jackfruit at Trader Joe's, a novel ingredient to me, and had to come up with a barbecue sauce to simmer it in, I turned to those ingredients.   


This is what the raw canned jackfruit looks like.
The jackfruit is a species of tree that comes from Southeast Asia, in the same family as mulberry and fig.  It's been cultivated in India for thousands of years.  It's a good source of fiber, potassium, vitamins C & B6. 

I've had jackfruit tacos from Danny Trejo's taco joint when they catered to my film sets at work.  But I was afraid to try the commercial version as it was so similar to meat, when as a young vegetarian I had taught myself not to like meaty tastes.  Making this at home allowed me to control the flavor profile, to add a sweetness that would balance the smoke flavor.  That's where pineapple comes into play.  I also added a can of pears for additional texture and sweetness.



I have my grandma's potato masher.  It has one last flake of red paint left on the handle; otherwise all the finish has been rubbed away through use.  She raised nine children with this tool, and I think of all the holiday meals it was pressed into commission.  I rarely make mashed potatoes, so I was thrilled to have an occasion to use her beloved kitchen instrument.  

Lots of the recipes I saw online said they were able to mash the jackfruit immediately after rinsing it, but I found it to be pretty tough, so I allowed it to cook in the crockpot whole, and instead of stirring the pot, would use the potato masher to combine everything once an hour or so while cooking.  By the end, it was fairly well stripped to a bbq consistency.  I liked the chunkiness that remained, as it gave a full flavorful hit of this or that in a bite. 






the mashed jackfruit mixture before adding roasted mushrooms


Mushroom - Pineapple BBQ Jackfruit

2 20 Oz Cans Green Jackfruit in Brine
1 20 Oz Can Pineapple Chunks in Juice
1 15 Oz Can Sliced Pears in Juice
1/4 onion, minced
1 bag frozen mixed Mushrooms

Sauce:
3/4 c Ketchup
1/2 c packed Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Tbsp Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp dried ground Mustard
1/8 tsp ground Cardamom
1/4 tsp minced Garlic
3/4 c water

1.  Rinse Jackfruit well to reduce sodium.  Drain Pineapple and Pears.  Place first four ingredients in crock pot with lid and turn on high.

2.  In a bowl, add all sauce ingredients and whisk together.  Pour sauce into crockpot over the fruit, stir, and cover.   

3.  Cook on high for approx 4 hours, mashing with a potato masher every hour or so.  

4.   Roast the mushrooms in an oven or toaster oven at 375 for 20-25 mins.  Mix into the crockpot mixture and serve on buns, toasted bread, or hearty crackers. 


Next time I make this I will use reserved pineapple juice instead of water for an extra fruity kick.  I reduced the liquid based on how soupy the sauce seemed to be.  And I reduced the amount of liquid smoke called for in my "inspiration" recipe that I found online and adapted.  That family clearly likes their smoke flavor!  I find I like it as an accent, but smoke flavor can get overwhelming very quickly.  This became my own adaption with the addition of more spices, mushrooms and pineapple, but the recipe I found was a great basis for a bbq sauce.  If I'd been able to mash the jackfruit before cooking, I would have cooked the mushrooms in the crockpot with the other ingredients.  Roasting the mushrooms in the oven allowed me to mash the other ingredients throughout the cooking process. 

What's the most novel meat-substitute you have experimented with?  What's your favorite barbecue sauce recipe?  Feel free to leave me some tips in the comments!

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