Hello Tuesday.
You snuck up on me and I don’t quite appreciate it. Seems like just yesterday I was fixing my first bagel sponge. Minding my own business. Working and cooking. How I like to spend my day. Then Saturday came around and with her came Tequila Rose and my bagel sponge grew 10 times the size and started crawling across the counter top and damn I need to grill some brats for the Brat Showdown! Oh mah GAH who can eat a BRAT now? Maybe if the world would stop spinning so fast…
So while all my partners in brat crime followed the rules and posted on MONDAY (some even stretched and posted at like 10 pm on Monday… you know who you are… ) I was just DINING on my brats Monday by the time most were in bed. And mmm were they good.
When I first signed up for this brat showdown my mind started to race. How can I use brats in an original way? Something different. Special. Never done before.
Ooh! Now THIS has never been done before!
I’m sorry, but for those not in the know - I am a Chicago girl. One of my rights of passage other then a Maxwell Street Polish or an Italian Beef Sammich’ is a good ole beer brat, grilled to perfection. If I had some Gonella bread I would have been in heaven.
But I don’t because they don’t deliver to Arizona which annoys the crap out of me.
So instead of a bun, I made the next best thing. Potato and scallion pancakes. I went total Bavarian! You there - hand me my lederhosen and let’s forget about the tomatoes and duck confit! Scrap the idea of goat cheese and truffles. Someone pass me the horseradish!
Will admit, when I first proclaimed my menu for dinner it was welcomed with mixed emotions. And questions about what kind of syrup to use… Oh my food lovin’ head…
After the first bite however. All were hooked.
Simple and tasty.
Ingredients:
For the brats:
Package of brats.
One white onion sliced
Two bottles of beer.
Put brats in pan.
Top with onions
Pour in one bottle of beer.
Simmer till cooked, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and pan.
For the Potato Pancakes:
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and grated coarsely.
3-4 scallions, trimmed and cut into quarters.
1 1/2 T flour
1 egg
1 t lemon juice
1 t parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
While the brats are simmering, crack open that other beer and coarsly grate those potatoes. Let them drain on a paper towel in a colander.
Add them to your food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse a few times until the mixture is smooth and the scallions chopped.
Heat some oil in a skillet and pour out some of the potato batter onto it into little pancakes. Cook till browned, then flip. Come on now it’s not like you don’t know how to make pancakes - you can do that right? If you seem perplexed, have another beer.
While you are browning the pancakes - grill these brats so that the skin is nice and crispy.
Serve and eat quickly before anyone wants seconds.
You CAN remove the brats from the pan and add some butter to the onions and cook down and add some salt and pepper and serve with the brats which is a side of heaven, but because I was grating potatoes they reduced to onion charcoal. ICK.
Be sure to check out the rest of the brat lovin’ fools here! Be sure to tell them you think HEATHER won… heh heh.
Eric @ Eric Rivera Cooks
Paula @ Bell’ alimento
Jeff @ Culinary Disaster
Kristy @ The Wicked Noodle
