RECREATING: VEGAN BAR FRIES
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when restaurants were closed, I was looking through some food pics from restaurants I visited before the shutdown and thought, “I think I can make that.” And here we are, the first post of a new feature – Restaurant Recreations.
Each post will feature a restaurant I’ve visited and my favorite item from their menu. Then comes the fun part! I will recreate the item at home and share my lessons learned. Today’s restaurant is 18th Amendment Spirits Company in Muskegon, Mich.
Before the pandemic, the 18th Amendment didn’t have many plant-based options. When I visited, it was for the drinks (and they are good!) After closing for several months, the restaurant reopened with a smaller menu that included a plethora of plant-based options. My favorite amongst the bunch? The vegan Bar Fries!
About the Bar Fries
The 18th Amendment does not skimp on the portions. I have yet to be able to eat a whole plate by myself, but the dish is more than a large plate of seasoned fries. Picture this: a base of thick cut fries topped with jackfruit smothered in a tangy barbeque sauce, Diya mozzarella cheese and jalapeno pepper slices toasted in wood burning pizza oven just long enough for the cheese to become slightly browned and crispy. Que the food chills!
Recreating the recipe
Now that your tastebuds are successfully tantalized. Let’s jump into the recipe.
Make the jackfruit: Preheat oven to 375° F. Add 10oz of BBQ jackfruit to a lightly oiled, foil-lined baking sheet. I used the Jackfruit Company for this recipe, but you can also make your own BBQ jackfruit. Bake jackfruit for 20 minutes. This will take some of the moisture out of the jackfruit. Remove from the oven and carefully break up the bigger chunks. Place back into the oven and turn the oven off.
Next, the fries. Fry 1-pound of frozen steak cut fries. Once the oil comes to temp, carefully add the fries to the hot oil and fry until golden brown. For this recipe, I prefer oil-frying or air frying. Air frying comes close to oil frying, but the oil has a slightly different taste and provides a crispier fry. Once golden brown, place fries on absorbent paper towel and lightly season with season salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Move fries to a cast-iron skillet or other oven-proof pan.
Let’s slay it. Top fries with baked BBQ Jackfruit and Daiya Mexican 4 Cheeze style blend. Make it as cheesy as you like. I used a half-cup, but next time I will use closer to a cup. Place fries in oven and broil just until the cheese melts. Carefully, remove fries from oven and top with sliced jalapeño pepper and green onions.
final thoughts
Recreating the bar fries at home was fun! I think I was close on flavor, but I don’t have a wood-fired pizza oven so I could not quite replicate the browned cheese. Also, I am guessing the restaurant had more BBQ Jackfruit on their than I did. Overall, I would give myself four stars out of five. Here are my final takeaways:
Restaurant is my first choice. I would rather order these from the 18th Amendment, lol. But, in a pinch, I can get close to the vegan bar fries.
Size matters. I think that the restaurant uses a smaller cut of steak cut fries than I used. My favorite fries are small crinkle fries, I think I will use these instead of the steak fries.
More is more. I would layer the fries with more Jackfruit and cheese. I might also try using AP’s Epic Queso instead of the Daiya cheeze.
Sauce it up! Saucier BBQ jackfruit would make this dish more decadent. When I make them again - and I will one day - I will mix some of my favorite BBQ sauce into the Jackfruit. It a has vinegar-y taste that I believe will take my recreation to the next level!
Well, there you have it my restaurant recreation of the 18th Amendment Spirits Company’s vegan bar fries. Let me know how you think I did and what you would do differently in the comments below.
If you recreate these bar fries or have a restaurant recreation of your own, share them with us on Instagram. Be sure to use #plantbasedslay.
NOTE: This post includes affiliate links. When you purchase an item using a link, we make a small commission that helps us run this site at no additional cost to you.
