Bratwurst

I’m on a homemade charcuterie kick lately. Today’s project was bratwurst. This time I used a pre-packaged mix. Bass Pro Shop carries meat curing supplies. I picked up a bratwurst spice mix there for this first experiment. Next time I’ll do the whole thing from scratch.

The brats came out great.  Add spicy sweet mustard and the kraut stuffed peppers on top and you have one awesome brat. This is definitely a “do over”.

Ingredients:
5 lbs pork butt
Hog casings
1 package bratwurst spice mix

Directions:
1. Rinse and soak the casings.
 

2. Cut meat into 2 inch cubes.
 

3. Coarsely grind the meat.
 

4. Mix in the spice mixture.
 

5. Rinse casings and thread onto tube.

6. Stuff the casings. Don’t over stuff. You need enough room to twist into links.
 

7. Cut into links. Mix a bottle of beer with enough water to cover the brats. Bring the beer and brat mixture to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
 

8. Fire up the grill with hickory wood for extra flavor. Cook the brats for about 5-10 minutes per side until nice and reddish brown.
 

9. Prepare the brats on a bun with mustard, peppers, and kraut. Enjoy.

Buffalo Wings

 

Buffalo wings are a perfect party food. I’ve tried all kinds of things for the wings and nothing came out with that perfect “Buffalo sauce” taste. It turns out that in this case brand names matter. You just can’t make Buffalo wings without Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. The recipe for the wings is right on the bottle. I just twisted it a little here to do them on the grill and to add some kick. These are super easy. You can make a bunch at one time to really feed a crowd. You can fry these too, but it just too much work. Baking comes out even better and it is easier, you can’t beat that.

Ingredients:
16 wings (if you prefer, cut into halves for a total of 32 pieces) 
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
cayenne powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Season wings with spices.

2. Pour hot sauce over wings, mix and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat grill (or oven) to 425F.

4. Place wings on grill and cook for 45 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes.
 

5. Remove wings from grill. If desired toss in a little sauce. Enjoy.

Simple Grilled Chicken

 

This is a very simple main course for a weekday. It takes almost no preparation and is done in half an hour from start to finish (other than grill startup time).

Notice nothing fancy here, just let the smoke and the chicken do most of the work.

Ingredients
½ Chicken cut into 3 pieces: breast, leg quarter, and wing
Garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste

Serves 2

Directions
1. Preheat the grill to 400F. I use a mix of hardwood charcoal and hickory.

2. Cut up the chicken and apply seasoning. I use generous amounts of each.

3. Place chicken on the grill, turn after about 10-12 minutes once skin is nice and brown.
 

4. After another 10-12 minutes check the chicken. Don’t over cook the chicken or it will be tough and dry. If you pierce the breast with a toothpick, the juices should run clear. If so, you are done.

5. Serve and enjoy the fruits of your labors.