Something bad happens when you start to get multiple magazines, new cookbooks, and you can’t remember where you saw that particular recipe.

I picked up some bratwurst sausage today, thinking of a recipe I’d read: it had apples, onions perhaps, not sure what else. So, I created my own recipe. I’ll loosely go over what I did, and what I’d change.

First, I browned some onions in butter. Simple. Wanted them sweet. I added flour to create a thickening roux. I took these off heat, and mixed them with shaved brussels sprouts and sliced apples, not to mention, some shaved radicchio. When the food processor can do all of this, it was no problem.

I of course had added salt and pepper, and garlic, too, when the onions were cooking. I stuffed all of this, a mound of vegetables, the four brats, some cut up mini Yukon Gold potatoes into a baking dish. I added beer. Off into the oven it went.

After an hour, some of the top was carbonized (at 450 degrees), and the taste was a little… sharp with the beer. Okay, so after consulting other recipes, not to mention the original (October 2008, Bon Appetit), here’s what I’d do next time.

• pre-brown the brats in butter.
• only cook the mixture for 30 minutes in the oven (roasting would be the operative word).
• instead of 1.5 bottles of beer, use .5; also use some vegetable or chicken stock to balance the flavors.
• add 3-5 tablespoons of brown sugar
• mix up the types of apple used. I used two, and the amount was fine; but I’d use one that melts and one that’s crisp.
• add some sour component, such as 3-4 tablespoons of cider vinegar.

So many recipes call for sauerkraut; in essence, you want that sour and sweet mixture here too, but not the so, over the top sour component. Cooking your sausage 1/2 way through before hand will ensure proper cooking by the time you take this mixture out. If you left it in any longer, I’d recommend covering it with foil first.

So, more sweet, a little more sour. A little less beer. Still, the combination of textures and flavors was inspiring.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 12:38 am and is filed under In the Kitchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.