BBQ Pork Sandwich with Chipotle Slaw

Hello my Hy-Vee friends and Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and boy am I ready it for it. To me summer means long walks with my puppy, Clementine, lazy days at the pool and BBQ! And please, when I say BBQ I mean BBQ. Grilling on charcoal is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but that is not BBQ.

Barbecuing, remember, is done slowly, over low and indirect heat. IF you are lucky enough to have a smoker one of easiest and tastiest things to make is pulled pork. Simply rub a pork butt (which actually comes from the shoulder of the pig) with a good BBQ seasoning such as JB’s Fat Boy. Place pork in a smoker at 225 degrees, add some hickory wood and cook for 8 to 10 hours or until the pork literally falls apart. Pull it apart, add a tasty BBQ sauce and you are set. Don’t have a smoker? Lucky for you, your West Lakes Hy-Vee always has BBQ pork available in our hot case!

Sure, pulled pork is delicious on its own but I like to make a fun sandwich out of it. I stuff some French bread with the pork, top it with some pepper jack cheese, thick cut bacon, a fist full of fries and topped with an easy chipotle slaw (see recipe below).

Chipotle Slaw

All you need:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayo

1 to 2 teaspoons chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce), chopped finely

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 teaspoon sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bag coleslaw mix

Salt and pepper to taste

All you do:

1. Mix all together to combine.

2. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper.

3. Place on top of sandwich and enjoy!

Stay safe, have a wonderful holiday, eat some que and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

I’ve got berries on my mind. Our produce department is a having a huge sale on all sorts of berries this week and every time I walk past the display, the wheels in my mind start turning. Sure, there are the typical ways you could use berries like putting them into cereal, adding them to smoothies and mixing them into yogurt…yawn!

One of my favorite ways to use blackberries, for example, is on pork. Blackberries and pinot noir are such a fantastic match that turning them into a sauce is simple and delicious. Follow the recipe below, pour over a grilled pork chop and you may never want to use blackberries for anything else again.

Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce

All you need:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, thinly sliced

12 ounce container blackberries

3/4 cup pinot noir

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

Salt and black pepper

All you do:

1. In a small saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.

2. Add the blackberries, wine, vinegar and honey; season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

3. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve pressing down on the fruit. Discard the solids, then return the sauce to the saucepan and season with salt and black pepper. Stir in the remaining berries and warm slightly over low heat. 

4. Serve over a grilled pork chop and enjoy!

Enjoy your berries and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Tarte au Pomme

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

I want to wish a sincere Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there. Today, I dedicate this blog to my mom, Marie Francoise. With my mom being 100% French, you could say I grew up in an interesting household. We never ate what “normal” kids ate. Things like mac and cheese, pudding and meat loaf were nonexistent. Since my mom was the cook, we had French food all the time. Period. At the time I was jealous of my friends who would eat things like frozen pizzas and pop tarts but now I realize how lucky I was. One of my mom's favorite things she used to make was a simple but elegant apple tart. So, in honor of Mother's Day I want to share her recipe with you!

Tarte au Pomme

All you need:

1 whole sheet puffed pastry, thawed and cut in half

4 whole granny smith apples, cored, halved and sliced thin

Sugar

1 cup apricot preserves

All you do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go.  

3. Sprinkle with sugar evenly over the apples. 

4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.
5. Meanwhile melt the apricot preserves. When preserves are melted, brush evenly over entire tart.

6. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Chilaquiles

Hola my Hy-Vee friends!

It’s Cinco de Mayo and while it is important to reflect on Mexico’s independence from the French… ah who am I kidding, these days Cinco de Mayo is an excuse to eat delicious Mexican food and drink tasty beverages. What's so wrong about that?!

Sure, you could go your local Mexican restaurant but more often than not I find it a disappointment. Some mystery meat rolled into a tortilla, covered with an ungodly amount of cheese? I’ll pass. For me chilaquiles will always do the trick and it is very easy to make. All you do is simmer tortilla chips in salsa, garnish with a small amount of cheese and cilantro and you are done.

Chilaquiles

All you need: 

3 cups salsa

8 ounces (8 to 12 loosely packed cups, depending on thickness) thick corn tortilla chips

8 ounces cotija cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup sour cream

1 small red onion, finely diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Shredded chicken, chorizo or ground beef (optional)

All you do:

1. In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, stir the salsa  until hot and sputtering. Add half the tortilla chips and stir to coat with the salsa, then cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. 

2. Add the rest of the tortilla chips, stir to coat with the salsa, and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 to 5 additional minutes. There should be a nice mix of very soft and still slightly crunchy chips when the chiliaquiles are finished. 

3. Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon or tongs to heap generous portions into each of 4 bowls. 

4. While still piping hot, top with the cotija, a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkling of red onion and cilantro. Add meat if desired.

5. Enjoy!

Eat something tasty, enjoy the holiday and as always, Praise the lard!

-Chef Alex