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

Crème d’ Asperges

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

Although it may not feel like it, spring is here. While spring means a lot of different things, to me, of course, it means food. When I think about iconic spring foods, the first thing that always comes to mind is asparagus. It's delicious (especially this time of year) and so easy to prepare. You can toss it in oil and throw it on the grill, chop it into chunks and pan fry it with garlic, lemon and butter or one of my favorites, Crème d’ Asperges or Cream of Asparagus Soup (though it sounds better in French). 

Crème d’ Asperges

All you need:

2 pounds asparagus, woody ends cut off

1 large onion, chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

All you do:

1. Cut tips from 12 asparagus 1 1/2 inches from top and halve tips lengthwise if thick. Reserve for garnish. Cut stalks and all remaining asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces.

2. Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes.

3. Add 5 cups broth or stock and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. While soup simmers, cook reserved asparagus tips in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain.

5. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth and return to pan. Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. 

6. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in remaining tablespoon of butter.

7. Garnish with asparagus tips.

8. Enjoy!

Celebrate spring, eat some asparagus and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Chicago-Style Italian Beef

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in Chicago and when I say Chicago, I mean I could hear the Cubs play from my window. Anyways, today I woke up home sick and the only thing that could cure my blues was some iconic Chicago food. Hot dogs, deep dish pizza or grilled Polish sausages would have all been good options, but what I wanted was Italian Beef. What’s Italian beef? It’s a delicious concoction of thinly beef slowly simmered in a rich beef stock that is stuffed into a hoagie. I like mine as a combo hot and wet. A combo is when you add a beautifully charred Italian sausage, hot means that it is loaded with hot giardiniere and wet means the whole thing is dunked into that beautiful broth that the beef was swimming in.

Luckily, while I can’t be in Chicago, I can replicate this dish fairly easily at home.

Easy Chicago-Style Italian Beef

All you need:

2 cans beef stock

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 pound DiLusso rare roast beef (from our Delicatessen)

4 hoagie rolls

Hot or mild giardiniere

This Chicago-Style Italian Sandwich Mix Hot Giardiniere from Mezzetta is my favorite!

All you do:

1. In a large pot, place the beef stock with the oregano, basil and garlic. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.

2. Add the beef and simmer for about 10 minutes. 

3. Remove meat from the stock and divide among the four rolls. If you like it wet and hot, dip into the broth and add the hot giardiniere.

4. Enjoy!

As always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Deviled Eggs

Hello and Happy Easter my Hy-Vee friends!

Easter is for family, faith and of course, food! Personally, I'm partial to a beautiful roast leg of lamb with spring vegetables and scalloped potatoes loaded with ham and way too much cheese. Deviled eggs, on the other hand, are probably my favorite. While deviled eggs are tasty all year long, there is something about having them at Easter that makes them even more delicious and the beauty about these eggs is how versatile they can be. Sure, you can have traditional ones but think outside the box my friends!

Chipotle, gorgonzola, tuna, roasted chicken and curry are just few of the things you can put into deviled eggs. Below are a couple of my favorite recipes.

Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs

All you need:
12 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise in half
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 jar (4 ounces) pimientos, drained well and finely chopped (save a few for garnish)
1 green onion, finely chopped
Paprika, cheddar and pimentos for garnish

All you do:
1. In a medium bowl, mash egg yolks, mayonnaise and hot sauce until almost smooth.
2. Fold in Cheddar, pimientos and green onion.
3. Spoon into egg whites.
4. Garnish with paprika, cheddar and pimentos.
5. Enjoy!

BBQ Bacon Deviled Eggs

All you need:
12 hard-cooked large eggs, peeled and cut lengthwise in half
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp barbecue sauce
1 tbsp yellow mustard
3 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped (save a little for garnish)
Fresh ground black pepper
Smoked paprika and bacon for garnish

All you do:
1. In a medium bowl, mash the egg yolks, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, mustard, bacon and pepper, to taste; whisk until smooth.
2. Use a spoon to scoop the yolk mixture into the whites.
3. Garnish the tops with a dash of paprika and some of the bacon.
4. Enjoy!

Have a wonderful Easter, eat lots of deviled eggs and as always, Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex

Chile Colorado

Hello my Hy-Vee friends!

It is getting hot, hot, hot in our produce department. We now have Guajillo, New Mexico, Pasilla, Hatch, ancho, chipotle and chile de arbol dried chiles. In addition, we also have pickled habaneros, a product I have been wanting for quite a while.

So what do you do with these chiles you ask? Anywhere you would use pickled jalapenos simply replace them with pickled habaneros! And they really are a delicious addition to any homemade tartar sauce.

As far as the dried chiles, the possibilities are endless. At its most basic you can use them to make homemade chili powder (guaranteed to be better than the stuff in a jar). Feeling ambitious? Make a mole which uses 4 kinds of dried chiles along with about 30 other ingredients. Told ya it was ambitious.

Or make one of my favorites which is Chile Colorado. This beautiful but simple dish consists of hunks of pork simmered in a sexy sauce made of New Mexico and pasilla chiles along with garlic and onion. 

Chile Colorado

Serves 6 to 8.

All you need:

3 to 4 pounds pork butt

8 dried New Mexico chiles

4 dried pasilla chiles

1 onion, roughly chopped

6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 cups Beef stock 

1 pound cubed potatoes (optional)

All you do:

1. Cut pork butt into small cubes, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Take the chiles and remove the stems, veins and seeds. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. When hot as the chiles and cook until the start to change color. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl and set aside for ½ hour.

3. Once the chiles are done soaking, strain them and reserve the liquid. Place the chiles in food processor or blender along with the onion and garlic. Add about a cup of the soaking liquid and puree until smooth. Set the chile sauce aside.

4. Meanwhile a pot over medium high heat, When the pot in hot add the oil and when the oil heats up add half the meat. When meat browns, remove from pan and add the remaining meat and brown..

5. Add all the meat back to pot, along with the chile sauce, oregano, cumin, apple cider vinegar and the beef stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low and cook for about an hour and a half or until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick. Adjust with salt and pepper. If using potatoes add and simmer additional half hour.

6. Enjoy!

Stay spicy and Praise the Lard!

-Chef Alex