Smoked Brats W/ Spaghetti Squash

Dec 04 2017

If you are like the wife and me you don’t like a lot of bread on a sandwich. Lately I have started using, flat bread, pita bread and Naan. Last night I toasted some Naan on a griddle for brat buns. I did a spaghetti squash in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.

I had 4 brats and a small sweet potato I did on my smoker 45 minutes at 250 degrees and 45 minute sat 285 seg. I placed the brats in a heated skillet while I toasted the bread. My wife had some mustard and kraut on her brat, I just had Maille mustard. Tasted good.

Sorry not doing too great on the photos but will try to get better.

My supper

Cheese Brats and Leftovers

ul 19 2017

Brats are fairly quick to cook for an easy meal. I like simmer them in beer for 10 to 15 minutes first. Then I usually throw them on my pellet smoker set at 250 deg. They will be done in 45 minutes to an hour, above 160 deg. I like them this way if we are just eating them on a plate, for sandwiches I like them browned up on my gas grill. I got the brats from my butcher who makes 17 different fresh brats.

For sides I had some Greek salad leftover and some corn I had cut off the cob. I fried the corn in a skillet with some butter and a little half and half cream.

The brats were done on my Traeger and were all above 160 deg. in 45 minutes. I had some of my Eli's BBQ sauce for my brat my wife had sauerkraut with hers. All tasted great and it was good to have some good corn cut from fresh local corn.

  The cheese brats

Brats are done

Frying the corn

Brats are ready to serve

My salad

My supper

Cajun Brats, Pierogi & Spaetzel

Oct 16 2016

It was a pretty easy meal tonight. I had some of my butcher’s fresh Cajun brats thawed and had some pierogi and spaetzel with them.

I smoked the brats on my Traeger at 190 deg. for an hour and threw the pierogi on for the last half hour to thaw and cook some. The pierogi were Mrs T’s which are pretty good and the spaetzel was Bechtel’s.

I got the spaetzel on boiling and brought the brats in to brown in a skillet with a little olive oil about 3 minutes per side then removed and browned up the pierogi and removed. I drained the spaetzel and added a couple pats of butter then in the skillet. I added the brats and pierogi back to warm up and cooked a few minutes to brown the spaetzel a little.

Tasted great along with some bread and butter!

Brats & pierogi in my Traeger

Browning the brats

Browning the pierogi

Spaetzel is in

I had served the wife before I too this

My supper

Smoked Brats & Kraut W/Pierogie

Sept 17 2016

Today was a little cool and rainy all day here. I had almost a pound of kraut to use and some frozen brats from my butcher. After Pappy’s post of Pierogie on LTBBQ I had bought some Mrs. T’s loaded mashed potato pierogie. They would hit the spot with the brats and kraut. I also had some cooked down tomatoes from my garden I would add in, I like tomatoes with kraut at times.

This supper was prepared on My Traeger, my Instant Pot and CS skillet on stove top.

I smoked the brats on my Traeger at 190 deg. for an hour. I cut up some onion and garlic to add to the kraut and some onion to go with the pierogie. I heated the IP on sauté mode and as soon as it was hot I browned the brats in a little oil and butter 4 minutes then turned, added the onions & garlic and after 4 minutes deglazed with about half can of beer. I added in the sauerkraut and pulled them up some so they were not on the bottom. I poured the tomatoes over, about 1 ½ cups and some salt and pepper. I set the IP on Meat/Stew mode for 10 minutes.

I had thawed 7 of the pierogie in hot water so heated my CS skillet on med high with 3 TBS. butter and a TBS. of olive oil. I cooked them about 6 minutes on the first side until I was getting some browning then turned and after a couple of minutes added the onions and then spooned some of the butter over.

Sorry missed a shot of adding the tomatoes and the finished pot!

We both thought it was delicious. I use Frank’s Sauerkraut that comes in a plastic bag and it’s made in Freemont Ohio. My wife likes it sour so for this I just poured off the juices and didn’t rinse. I thought adding the tomatoes were good for a change. The brats were infused with the sour from the kraut.

Brats on my Traeger

The pierogie

Browning the brats some

Beer added to deglaze

Kraut added and then the tomatoes

Pierogie one side browned

Turned, onions added and ready to serve

My supper

Beer Brats, 1 Portabella Sandwich, cheesy pasta and asparagus

Sept 05 2016

It was a pretty busy week end here. Our daughter came home Sat. to stay. Last Thursday I had done pulled pork and Friday I did a Cuban chicken for our supper so had plenty of leftovers for the week end.

Saturday at 5:30 the grandson and other young soccer players got to run on the field with the High School team during introduction. We had to go see that. Not sure why they start a game right at supper time! I was hungry so had to have a hot dog & some popcorn. I didn’t stay long; the wife and daughter stayed and then they all went out to eat after the game.

Sunday we stopped to see my 94 yr. old Mother and went to see my daughter who is in a rest home from a stroke. I had a cooler full of my leftovers I vacuum sealed and froze I took to her husband. This always leaves me depressed a few days. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel and ate before heading home.

For today I did beer brats, one portabella burger for the daughter in law, Bob Evens pasta w/double cheese and apple wood smoked bacon and some fresh asparagus. A few years back I would want most of my side dishes made from scratch. Getting older I use some shortcuts for easier meal prep. Bob Evan’s sides are all pretty good.

For the brats I added some sliced onions to a pan with some butter and it went on my Traeger at 185 deg. along with the brats for an hour. After a half hour I added a can of beer to the onions. I had my Weber Spirit heated on Med, about 400 deg. and browned the brats about 4 minutes per side and then they went in the beer bath on my smoker.

I had chopped some red pepper and onions for the portabellas. I had cleaned the stem and ribs from the mushrooms and seasoned with some garlic herb salt. I sprayed them with a little olive oil and they went rib side down about 3 minutes the turned them and filled with the peppers & onions, shredded mozzarella and some shredded Manchego cheese. They were on 4 to 5 minutes to melt the cheese. My wife was heating the pasta and the asparagus in the microwave. I had drizzled the asparagus with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar and seasoned with garlic herb salt.

We all thought it was good. The Bob Evens pasta is pretty darn good for bought and an easy side. Our daughter would never eat asparagus but my wife told her to try the fresh. She did and went back for seconds. There was sauerkraut and mustard for the brats; I had Maille mustard and some of my Kimchi on mine.

Brats & onions on the smoker

Browning the brats on my gas grill

Brats added to the beer & onions

Portabellas done

Daughter in law's sandwich

My supper

Brats, Apple Slaw and Corn On the Cob

Aug 12 2016

I am getting tired of this hot humid weather! It is interfering with my outdoor cooking and my appetite too! With my COPD I get sapped pretty quickly when outdoors in this weather.

I had some tomato garlic fresh brats from my butcher, a head of red cabbage from my neighbor’s garden and some fresh picked corn from Suter’s; it was picked this morning. I was making some of akruckus’s, he is a fellow member of Lets Talk BBQ, apple slaw from the cabbage.

My Instant Pot 6 in 1 came today so I could try it out steaming the corn in it. It looks like it is well made.

The brats I planned to smoke for an hour on the Traeger and then brown up on my Weber Gas Grill. I made up the slaw after lunch; I just used a half head of cabbage so cut the ingredients accordingly.

About 4 PM we had a downpour for a half hour and got .8 inches. I thought I was going to have to brown the brats inside. I had some mini sub buns that would do well for the brats, I sliced some off the open edge and toasted on my gas grill. It all came together well but didn’t get as many pics as I wanted, I missed the finished slaw but you can see it on my plate.

I had a batch of my homemade Kimchi ready so I had to try that on my brat. The Kimchi and slaw doesn’t exactly go together but I like it. AK’s recipe for the slaw is a winner, the apple cider and applesauce dressing is great on it. My wife loved it and she had it on her brat.

The Instant Pot worked great; I had 3 ears of corn, one long one I had to halve, and it made one layer on the steam insert. There was enough room for another layer so you could do six ears in it. It took about 7 to 10 minutes to heat up and then went to timer mode; I had set to 4 minutes. 4 minutes later I shut it off and vented the steam. My wife and I both thought it was the best corn I have ever made.

Click Here for printable slaw recipe

For the slaw

Ready to mix

Corn in my Instant Pot

My supper

I made a second batch of the slaw for my wife's
Aunt so here is a photo of how pretty it is

Smoked Sauerkraut Brats on the Griddle

July 11 2016

I am sure glad I had an easy meal planned for supper; it was pushing 90 deg. out there. We have not had any rain to amount to much the past few weeks. I haven’t had to mow grass but it is starting to turn brown.

I had some sauerkraut brats from Kah Meats and would have a Romaine salad with some Tennessee tomatoes. I had two ears of corn from last night that I didn’t batter; I just fried them in the oil for 3 minutes. I cut it from the ears and told the wife if it wasn’t good we didn’t have to eat it.

I got the brats on my Traeger at 195 deg. to smoke for an hour.  After I got them on I put the corn in a Lodge CI server with two pats of butter, a little garlic herb salt and it went on the smoker; it should be good and hot to serve. I sliced two Vidalia onions and cut in half to do on the griddle for the brats.

At 5:45 I fired up the Camp Chef griddle; it only takes about 10 minutes to get up to temp. I had it set for about 500 deg. At 6:00 I put the onions on and then added the brats from my smoker. I added two pats of butter to the onions. It only took a few minutes on each side for the brats and the onions were just about right. I took them inside to serve and got the corn from my smoker.

We both had onions and mustard on the brats. I had blue cheese dressing on the salad my wife had made. It was a pretty good supper for a hot summer evening. We both thought the corn was extra good.

Brats and corn on the Traeger

Brats and onions on the griddle

My salad

My supper

Smoked Kraut Brats & Pierogies

May 20 2016

I took the car through the car wash this morning and stopped at Sandman’s for some beer. He gave me a couple of ribs to try he had done on the PBC. That was my lunch and sure was good. It’s a different smoke flavor than I get on any of my cookers and enjoyed them.

After lunch I went and picked up some flowers to plant. I got my wife set up and she planted them for me. I went and took a nap!

My supper would be an easy cook; kraut brats and pierogies. I had found a recipe for grilled pierogies and wanted to try it. The brats were from my butcher and the pierogies were Mrs. T’s four cheese and mashed potatoes. I would rather have some homemade ones but Mrs. T’s are pretty good and I don’t do dough well.

My plan was to smoke the brats for an hour on my Traeger then do the pierogies on my Weber Gas grill and finish the brats on it too.  Some rain moving in from the south made me change to just using my Traeger. The brats went on the Traeger at 190 deg. for an hour.

For the pierogies; I did them without thawing, a large sliced Vidalia onion, poured some olive oil over. They went in my weber grill basket after the brats were on an hour. I went to 300 deg. and was getting about 350 deg. grill level.

I melted 3 Tbs. of butter, a large teaspoon of dried parsley flakes and added some salt and pepper. After the pierogies had been on 20 minutes I poured the butter mix over and stirred to coat. I checked the brats and they were done so I put them on top of the pierogies and all was on another 20 minutes stirring half way.

We had toasted English muffins and some cold artisan sauerkraut with them. I had mixed equal parts of stone ground mustard and mayo along with some good shakes of Cholula hot sauce mixed to have with my brat.

This was quick and easy and pretty good. I still want to try grilled pierogies but will use the Traeger for something quick. I think the next time I would thaw the pierogies in hot water for the smoker and might get some better browning like I get when doing in a skillet. Total cook time was an hour 40 minutes and there was very little prep.

The simple ingredients

On the smoker & about done

My supper

Brat & Bologna Bites and Beer Brined Oven Fries

Jan 30 2016

I love brats and sometimes I take brats from my butcher, take them out of the casings and make brat patties.I found a recipe for brat bites, meatballs, and beer horseradish mustard. I had already made the mustard and bought 4 fresh brats from my butcher.

We were blessed with 56 deg. and sun today so it was great to be out cooking. 56 deg. In Jan. is almost unheard of here in Ohio! Before noon I cut up the potatoes for fries and mixed a tablespoon of salt with a lager beer. I added the potatoes and enough water to cover then in the fridge to brine for over 3 hours. About an hour before baking them drain and rinse in a collander then back in the fridge to drain well.

I cut the 4 brats in thirds, removed the casings and made the meatballs. I seasoned half with Super Pig and half with Blues Hog Rub. They went in the fridge for a little over an hour before smoking. I also had one inch chunk of old fashioned bung bologna from my butcher I cut up and seasoned with Blues Hog Rub.

I put the brat bites and bologna on my Treager at 4:30 PM preheated to 190 deg. about 200-210 grill level. After 45 minutes I went to 270-280 grill level for another 45 minutes.

I got the fries ready to go in a 400 deg. oven for a half hour, coated them with ghee and Penzey's sandwich sprinkle and turned them half way through.

It all came together at 6:00 PM, my wife had made us a green salad. It all tasted great, the brats bites were just right, done but still juicy inside! My mustard was goo with the brats and bologna! My oven fries didn't get as brown as usual. I used ghee for the first time and think it is better suited for skillet frying. I will go back to olive oil the next time.

The Brat Bites

The bologna bites

After 45 minutes on smoke

Brined fries ready fo the oven

1 1/2 hours and done

Fries are done

Ready to serve

My supper