Wingin’ It: Jacksonville Jaguars

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face a new opponent each week, fans take on the age-old arch-nemesis know as “hunger.” Never fear, Buffalo Rumblings has just the playbook to take down this foe. Each week, we’ll dive into enemy territory to scout their signature moves and put a “Buffalo” spin on it. Translated, each week we’ll share a themed recipe based on who the Bills are playing, including a custom wing sauce to go with each dish. Our opponent this week:

Jacksonville Jaguars

Rider: I really tried everyone. I searched high and low to find a Jacksonville signature food. The “rider” is as close as it gets. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s lovely places to eat in Jacksonville. It’s just that this is as close as I can find to a “Jacksonville” only food. Are you ready?

The “rider” is a pita stuffed with deli meats and other fixins’ like cheese and lettuce. Sometimes they put Italian dressing on it. This is known in many other places as a “sandwich.” I’m literally not even going to do a recipe for anything other than the sauce. I’m confident dear reader, that you can figure out a sandwich with a pita or pita-like bread. Or make a sub, I don’t care.

Tabbouleh-Inspired Wing Sauce

Serves: 6-8
Active Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 20 hours

Alright, while the rider is pretty lackluster, there’s a little intrigue at least when it comes to sides. According to the internet, riders are often served with tabbouleh salad. We’ll swap the Italian dressing for a wing sauce inspired by the side dish which I promise will “bam” things up a notch.

Ingredients

• 4-6 mint leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped onions
• ¹⁄₄ tsp garlic powder
• A pinch of parsley
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• ¹⁄₄ cup hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp butter, unsalted

Tabbouleh inspired wing sauce

1. Add mint, onions, garlic, and parsley to small saucepan on LOW (to release flavors and slightly wilt) for 1-2 min.
2. Add lemon juice and hot sauce to pan. Increase heat to MED; cook 4-5 min.
3. Turn heat off; add butter and stir in. If butter won’t completely melt, use the lowest heat setting to finish mixing, being careful not to burn butter.
4. Drizzle over sandwich*

Wingin’ It Tips

*If you have connections down in Jacksonville, please tell them to create a signature dish.

Side note: To try to find an iota of Jacksonville this week, I did make one sandwich with bologna which is Doug Marrone’s favorite thing ever, apparently.

The Beer

Here’s another opportunity for authenticity. The drink of choice for a rider is cherry limeade. Adding a splash of cherry juice to our Labatt Blue Light Lime is just the ticket.

Beer products provided by Labatt USA. Please drink responsibly.

Coming soon!

The Bills fly South to take on the Miami Dolphins. Ah Miami, where there's sure to be something more unique than a sandwich for us to try.