Brats on the Grill

Aside of cheese in Wisconsin, beer is next or perhaps they are about a tie in popularity. At any rate we could not go to Wisconsin without touring beer facilities. Our second stop for sight seeing on Saturday was the Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee, home of Captain Frederick Pabst, the world famous beer baron. This really is a must see stop when in Milwaukee. Following that we toured the Miller Brewing Co. in Milwaukee. It was an interesting, informative tour with free samples for those older than 21 at the end of the tour.

Bratwurst

Bratwurst aka brats are a German sausage made with beef and pork that naturally pair nicely with beer. The kids decided to grill burgers and brats for dinner. What was different about this meal was the prep as well as cooking on a charcoal grill.

One of the best things about food and cooking is there are always opportunities to learn. There are always new to you ways of preparing the food too. That's what makes food so much fun to experiment with. I cook with beer fairly often and I've grilled brats but this was a new method for me.

Method: Pour 3 cans of Miller or brand of choice beer into a large saucepan. Add raw brats and one sliced onion. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer until the brats are no longer pink.

Corn

Grilled corn can't be beat. It has just that little extra flavour mingled with a little smokiness to accent the flavour. The kernels remain tender and juicy, just begging for a little salt and butter :)

I've cooked many a cob of corn over an open fire an on the grill yet this method of prep was another new to me. After seeing it done and seeing the end results I will be using this method. The end result is the same but I think it is a much neater look. I'm going to give my method first followed by the kids' method. That way you can choose whatever method you want to grill the corn.

My method: Remove any long leaves. Soak in water about 20 minutes. Place on hot grill. Grill until outer husk is blackened. Remove from grill. Hold the cob on the uncut stem. Peel back the husk. Butter and salt.

The Kids method: Remove outer layer of husk. Break off the stem. Cut across the top of the cob with scissors to for a neat, squared end. Soak in water about 20 minutes. Place on hot grill. Grill until outer husk is blackened. Remove from grill. Peel off the remaining husk. Butter and salt.



Don't you just wish you had smell-o-vision? My husband took his hand at grilling on the charcoal grill. Now I just have to tell you a bit more about this. The grill after a bit of coaxing was fired up and if there is anything that my husband enjoys it is grilling. Their house backs onto a beautiful forest setting. It rained that day. See where I'm going here? Well, once the grill was going my husband said would you like me to grill them for you of which one of the kids said sure and left him out there with the dog happily grilling away EXCEPT for the gigantic mosquitoes! No amount of smoke was keeping them away! However, he is now 100% convinced he needs a charcoal grill in addition to our gas grill. I have to agree it would be a nice addition along with a little smoker [Time to go shopping!]

Plated

The meal consisted of grilled homemade burgers, bratswurst, steamed fresh green beans, onions and pasta salad. The brats came out lovely as did the homemade hamburg patties. There was shredded cheddar cheese in the patties too. I'm telling you every meal in Wisconsin has cheese in some form. It's no wonder since good quality cheese can add so much flavour to a dish. The beans were steamed to al dente just perfect. There were buns for both the burgers and brats but I really didn't feel like buns.

What I really liked about this meal was the added dimension of the brats in beer combined with the elements of the charcoal grill. It was a lovely combination!