Recipe challenge Week 1: Holland House sherry cooking wine, pork chops, blueberries and kale
Rachel Hencz: My husband devilishly came up with the name for the barbecue sauce as I'm gushing about the secret ingredients and he nonchalantly starts singing “Sherry, Sherry Blueberry, Banana Fana …” The sponsored secret ingredient was the Holland House Sherry Cooking Wine, which was the base for the “Q” Sauce, and I also used it to wilt the kale for the stuffing.
... While all of this may sound time consuming, the time consuming part is straining the “Q” sauce and roasting the potatoes and squash. I think this dish is best to do with some leftovers, but I also try to prep my dishes the night before. That way, when I am ready to make it the next day, I just need to throw it together. After we're done eating, then I can spend the time to cut everything up — for the next night, of course! It makes life easier, and your family isn't waiting on you with hungry tummies.
Ron Nunes: My goals were 1) great taste; 2) ease of prep.; 3) use fresh ingredients and 4) think “out of the box.”
The Kale Walnut and Blueberry Toss is very healthy, very high in antioxidants and has easy, one-bowl prep. The secret is to massage the dressing into the kale and let sit and wilt at least one hour. The recipe is very versatile; you can add or subtract anything that keeps it healthy — obviously pork cracklings would not be a good idea. With the Pork Chop Confusion I wanted to have fun, and create an illusion. The salsa I came up with should never taste as good as it does, you would think it's ultra sweet and hot, turns out it's the exact opposite. Also you should never have a purple piece of meat, the rum and blueberry's blend together to form a basis for an outstanding carmelization for the grill marks, for a picture perfect presentation with the salsa. Each dish I created takes no longer than 30 minutes of prep work and all ingredients are very easy to find.