Cooking questionable food so you don’t have to.
We’re almost three weeks into total lockdown, lads. But what have learned during this time?
We’ve learned that Zoom calls will always be awkward. We’ve learned that supermarket workers are heroic human beings. We’ve learned that banana bread is apparently our lord and saviour.
Sourdough starter a close second.
And rightly so. During this crazy time of uncertainty and turmoil, people have been turning to their kitchens for something to do.
Bored? Bake a cake. Stressed? Chop some veg. Feel like the world is entirely falling apart around you and are concerned that the country will never be able to financially recover from this? Out comes the sourdough starter.
But what about the dishes that you’ve always been too wary of making? The ones that are a tad too bizarre to be served at (Houseparty) dinner parties? The ones that probably won’t turn out exactly how the TV chef says they’re going to?
Introducing Kitchen Crusade – a new IGTV show from Her that’s all about cooking wild recipes that may or may not turn out to be total shit.
Sure that’s half the fun, after all… What else would you be doing with your time? Honestly.
The first Kitchen Crusade is a good ‘un as it incorporates sustainability, avoiding food wastage, and BBQ sauce.
It’s a totally vegetarian banana peel ‘pulled pork’ sandwich – and yes, you do have a right to be offended.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-6yzXEDw6-/
This recipe reared its head a couple of weeks back over on GBBO winner Nadiya Hussain’s Instagram account. She said that she had found a way to use the banana skin to create a pulled pork-esque dish that wasn’t all that far from the real thing.
And yeah, in fairness to her, she may have been onto something.
Here’s my slightly different take on the banana peel pulled pork recipe. Enjoy it, yeah? It’s actually not bad.
You’ll need:
- 3 banana peels (cleaned)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 3 minced garlic cloves (or more, God willing)
- BBQ sauce
- Medley of spices including paprika, curry powder, cumin etc – whatever you’ve got, tbh
- 2 burger buns
- Pickles
- Cheese
- Mayo
- Salt and pepper
- Any kind of oil (I used olive, because boujie)
And here’s how to make it:
1. Brown the onions and garlic in a little oil on medium heat in a nonstick pan. While they’re cooking away, take a fork and start shredding the banana peel into ribbons. Keep shredding until they stop resembling banana peel – or until your arm gets sore.
2. Add the shredded banana peel to the pan with some more oil and season with a good bit of paprika/whatever other spice you fancy throwing in there. Move the peel around the pan for a few minutes until it starts to lose its yellow colour.
3. Throw in a generous helping of BBQ sauce and stir together. Tomato ketchup could also feature in this part of the recipe but it’s not a necessity. Add some salt and pepper and continue to season to your taste.
4. Cook on a low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, or until the peel starts to brown. Take off the heat and prepare your buns. Under the grill with some cheese on top is a good shout.
5. Take the buns out of the grill and add some mayo to one side of each. Pop a generous helping of banana peel/onion/garlic mix on top of that and garnish with some pickles. Close the buns and tuck in.
Not as bad as you thought, right?
You can check out the first episode of Kitchen Crusade over on Her’s IGTV here.
