Heinen's Deli Manager, Vie Squires - Photographed by Julie Linnekin

With The Big Game just days away, chefs and associates at Heinen’s Fine Foods are working overtime preparing foods for us to serve to our favorite football fans gathering for parties on Sunday.  Because this is such a big weekend for football and, of course, FOOD, we couldn’t miss this opportunity to sample some of their game day specialties.  For a taste of Heinen’s options for easy football entertaining, we stopped by the store, headed straight for the deli and found the woman in charge, Vieve (Just call her “V”) Squires.  If you have any questions about Heinen’s deli or prepared foods counter, V’s a gal you should get to know.

Heinen's Deli Manager, Vie Squires - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Heinen’s Deli Manager, V Squires – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

At Heinen’s deli counter, they offer unique and specialty Italian meats and cheeses plus Heinen’s own Two Brother’s Deli Meats and V says they’ll help assemble a selection of these meats for your party on Sunday.

“If you want to pick and choose your own meats and cheeses, we have hard-to-find cured meat delicacies like Speck, Smoked Pancetta, Prosciutto di Parma, Duck Salami and Sopressata, which is a popular but hard to find high-end Italian salami.”

Specialty Meats at Heinen's Deli - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Specialty Meats at Heinen’s Deli – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

“My favorite thing in this case is the Molinary brand Finnochiona salami with fennel seeds and pepper.”

Specialty Italian Meats at Heinen’s in Barrington – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

And Heinen’s everyday Deli meats are something special as well, boasting a time-tested quality that is traced back to the source.  For example, their best-selling product, the Two Brothers turkey is all-natural and nitrate free, with no fillers, no antibiotics, gluten-free, and sourced from all grain fed animals.  It is also never frozen, and cooked fresh to order directly for the store.  They made believers out of us with one bite.  Everything about this meat says fresh off the bone, and that is hard to find in a nicely-priced deli meat.

Heinen's Two Brothers Turkey - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Heinen’s Two Brothers Turkey – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

V loves to offer suggestions and says you’ll often hear her recommending some of her favorite items from the deli.  “At home, I love making sandwiches with our Italian-Marinated turkey with the Amish Classic Jalapeno Cheddar cheese and fresh spinach.  And our Adams Reserve New York Extra Sharp Cheddar has the best flavor.  It’s what I use in my homemade macaroni and cheese.”

Adams Reserve New York Extra Sharp Cheddar - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Adams Reserve New York Extra Sharp Cheddar – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

“If you’re looking to try something new, our Beef pastrami has a wonderful flavor profile and our Applewood smoked chicken breast is cold-smoked which maintains a stronger flavor. There is no sugar added to Heinen’s hams, and their baked ham is lower in sodium than traditional low-sodium hams because they are all natural, as the quality of the meat ensures it does not need to be salt-cured to preserve.”   Not every deli has sliced eye of round and pork roast, and Heinen’s will also cut you thick slices of these, or turkey or ham to serve for your dinner.

Two Brothers Baked Ham at Heinen's - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Two Brothers Baked Ham at Heinen’s – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

And here’s a tip:  Heinen’s has a Deli Express Kiosk that is located right when you walk in the store.  V says, “Say you come in and have a ton of shopping to do and you don’t have time to wait at the deli. Use the Deli Express kiosk to punch on your deli order, and then find your order waiting for you a few minutes later at the deli.”

Express Deli Kiosk at Heinen's Fine Foods - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Express Deli Kiosk at Heinen’s Fine Foods – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

The kiosk informs you of specials and prices and allows you to tailor your order by weight, thickness of cuts, and pairing suggestions. If you punch in your phone number, the kiosk will both text you a message when your order is ready, and it will also remember your past orders for ease of ordering in the future.

Express Deli Kiosk at Heinen's Fine Foods - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Express Deli Kiosk at Heinen’s Fine Foods – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

And, of course, deli meats are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Heinen’s foods for game day entertaining.  They offer prepared wings and sandwiches that are available to grab and go.  In the cooler cases on the other side of the salad bar, you’ll find take-and-bake pizzas in all different sizes.  You can also pre-order pizzas or a wide selection of sandwich and deli meat trays for pickup on the day of the Big Game.

In the prepared foods area, some specialty items being cooked up for football parties are Duck Wings with Apricot Barbecue Glaze, Swedish Meatballs, Barbecue Meatballs, Smoked Chicken Wings, Pig Wings with Bacon Barbecue Sauce, Sauerkraut Balls (which are Reuben-flavored fried appetizers), Breaded Olives, and Beef and Chicken Satay Skewers.

Heinen's Beef Satay Skewers - Photographed by Julie Linnekin
Heinen’s Beef Satay Skewers – Photographed by Julie Linnekin

In the cooler cabinets just past the produce section are four premium dips perfect for game-day gatherings, including Spinach Dip, Sweet Vidalia Onion, Fiesta Dip with Chorizo (V’s favorite) and Buffalo Chicken Dip.  “We take jalapenos, cut them in half, grill them and stuff them with chicken, buffalo sauce, cheddar and blue cheeses.”  V says the Buffalo Chicken Dip is a “Must Try”!

Heinen's Buffalo Chicken Dip
Heinen’s Buffalo Chicken Dip

All four dips are sold in oven-and-microwave-safe packaging for serving ease at game time and they’re on sale this week!  They’re also busy making Heinen’s own crab dip, which V says is perfect for entertaining.  Since both San Francisco and Baltimore are both known ports for crab, we agree that one fits any party’s menu.  And though we’re not sure who the NFL champions will be this year, we know any party that serves food from Heinen’s will be a winner.

Heinen's Fine Foods in Barrington, Illinois
Heinen’s Fine Foods in Barrington, Illinois

Heinen’s Fine Foods is located at the Shops at Flint Creek, 500 N. Hough Street, in Barrington, Illinois. They’re now open from 8:00 a.m. To 8:30 p.m., 7 days a week. Click HERE to follow them on Facebook or find them online at HeinensBarrington.com.

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About the Author

Kelly Donlea is a Barrington mom, chef, cookbook author the owner of Organizing Dinner, a company that brings sensible cooking solutions to busy people. She has published several cookbooks and one of her specialties is helping parents plan family meals with fewer trips to the grocery store. Kelly also offers cooking classes and demonstrations in your home or public facility. To learn more about Kelly, her recipes and her services, you’ll find her Facebook page by clicking HERE and her website at OrganizingDinner.com. Kelly is going to be sharing recipes, cooking tips and special features about chefs and popular menu items at area restaurants right here at 365Barrington.com.

Please join us as we discover local culinary treasures and new kitchen classics in our regular Friday food feature here at 365Barrington.com called “Barrington Eats” with Kelly Donlea!

If you’d like to us to feature you favorite chef, restaurant or food store or if you have a food related question that you’d like Kelly to answer, make a quick stop at the 365 Barrington Suggestion Box and leave us a note in the form which you’ll find by clicking HERE or simply leave your comment in the box below.

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