Badger Brats

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. I made this ‘good luck’ recipe for the Championship Final for basketball. The Wisconsin Badgers played the Duke Blue Devils. Brats are such a Wisconsin thing it seemed like a great theme.

Well, the brats didn’t bring any luck to the Badgers, but neither did watching the game from our lucky red sofa! Badgers lost. That doesn’t take away from the flavor of the brats though. They are a BIG YUM.

If you decide to have a second one, skip the bread. Just pile the stuff on your plate and use your fork.

Servings: Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 6 bratwurst (Wisconsin brats will be a big hit if you can get them)
  • 1 bottle of beer (You choose your beer. The darker the beer the more the beer flavor will seep into the brats so keep that in mind. You’re not going to actually drink the beer so don’t worry about the carbs.)
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • olive oil for onions and for cooking the brats)
  • 2 Tbl of butter, divided
  • 6 pieces of rye bread (You choose your rye. I used a marbled version.)
  • coarse mustard (German mustard preferred, or they make a yummy brat mustard too)
  • 6 slices of Wisconsin cheddar cheese

Instructions:

Put your brats in a medium sauce pan. Pour the beer over them. Then put in just enough water to cover the brats. Bring to a boil and lightly boil the brats for 12 minutes. This will cook them so when you go to grill them or pan fry them you’re doing that just to get them browned and not worrying about whether they got cooked. If you want your onions to have a bit more flavor, you can put them in the pan with the brats too. I prefer to saute my onions so they have a buttery flavor.

When the brats are cooked, drain off the liquid. You can do this part ahead and store them in the fridge if you want.

Fire up your grill or get your saute pan ready. Grill or pan fry your brats until they have a nice, brown crust on the outside. If you have stored them in the fridge you also need to make sure you leave them on the heat long enough to get good and hot.

I use a separate saute pan to cook my onions. Put in 1 Tbl of butter and 1 Tbl of olive oil. Cook the onions on medium high until they are just beginning to brown. Stir often to keep them from sticking. Set aside.

Butter one side of your bread slices. Grill one side of the bread or crisp it up in a pan if you’re not using the grill. You only want to crisp up one side so you can still fold your bread to wrap it around the brat.

Take your bread, crispy side out. Top it with onions. Then add your hot brat. Cover it with a folded slice of cheddar and top it off with a drizzle of mustard. Hold in your hand and bend it all to fold around the brat. And bite.

Enjoy!

Cheers,