So Thanksgiving has come and gone, and if you're like me, you'll be eating turkey, Bubba Gump-style, for the next month: turkey sandwiches, turkey stew, turkey casserole, turkey loaf, turkey gumbo, turkey salad, turkey sausage - you get the picture (for more than 900 turkey recipes, check out www.eatturkey.com).
But one can only handle turkey served so many ways, and one can only stay awake for so long after ingesting so much tryptophan (the amino acid in turkey that everyone says makes ya sleepy). So I decided to mix up the excess poultry with some tasty pork - namely, the "Pratt's" Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich from Alice Cooper'stown, the "rock and jock" restaurant on 1st street and Jackson owned by namesake shock rocker Alice Cooper.
"Pratt's" Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwich Named for Phoenix radio personality Dave Pratt back when he was rockin' 98 KUPD (he's now at country station KMLE), this sandwich is bursting with tender, shredded pork (take one bite and a quarter of the meat falls out the bottom). Not only was the Iowa, corn-fed pork delightfully chewy, but I didn't find a single piece of fat or gristle in the whole sandwich. The smoked pork has a rich, slightly sweet flavor, and it was lathered in tangy Carolina sauce. There were hints of paprika, garlic, and vinegar in the sauce, but all the flavors blended so well that no single ingredient dominated the taste. It's no wonder that Cooper's BBQ pork is oft-touted as "award-winning." I definitely give it two thumbs up (or four pig's feet up, in this case). The sammy will only set you back $8.99, and comes with two sides. -- Niki D'Andrea
