Easy Brats & Sicky Pants

Anyone else just about fed up with this cold season? I know I am. You may have noticed my absence for a few weeks. Blame it on the cold - both weather and sickness. After some travel back west I managed to pick up a head cold that just won't quit. I've tried traditional cold meds, hot toddies, herbal remedies, honey and lemon, rest and more rest, you name it. Last night, I decided to try some good old fashioned brats and beer. So far it seems to be helping. Plus I love me some tasty brats!

We are lucky enough to have a wonderful local butcher here in town who has a reputation for their good meats and cuts. Upon our last visit, we picked up a four-pack of locally made brats which turned into the foundation of this recipe. Cooking brats is an easy process, if you remember one thing: slow cook them. This particular batch happened to be apple sage brats, which I thought would work beautifully in a bath of hoppy IPA and apples. I was too lazy (i.e. sick) to dig out the crock pot so instead I opted for cooking them on low heat for a few hours on my stove top.

The end result yielded delicious, succulent brats with an amazing flavor. I served them up with an assortment of mustard, a heaping dollop of applesauce, and some roasted fingerling potatoes and brussel sprouts seasoned with thyme, sea salt, and garlic. After I finish typing this, I plan to dish myself up a plate for leftovers lunch. Enjoy!

Easy Brats
Adapted From: Slow Cooker Bratwurst & Apples

• 4 uncooked bratwurst links (locally made is best)
• 2 medium apples, chopped (I used one golden and one granny)
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped 
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
• 2 cans of IPA (I used Shiva IPA, pretty hoppy)
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. spicy brown mustard (the kind with the big mustard seeds)
• dash of salt and pepper 

Place the brats, apples, onion, and garlic in a lightly greased large sauce pan. Add the beer, brown sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Gently stir.

Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is done (160 degrees F).

Serve warm over roasted potatoes and veggies. Try not to eat them all at once!!

Garlic Cheese Pinwheel Rolls

Always try to find the silver lining, right? The positive in a negative situation. The sweet taste amongst the bitter. This is exactly what I am trying to do with my prolonged illness - find the good point to it all. One good thing is that all this weight loss means I need to start eating, pronto!

And what better thing to eat than garlicky, cheesy bread??

I stumbled across this very easy recipe from The Hungry Mouse and figured well hell, I should get in on some of this action. My local grocery store has a really tasty pre-made rosemary pizza dough and with the few staples I constantly keep in my kitchen, this recipe was a snap. My suggestion - make lots! I ate the majority of these bad boys before I could get a picture or two in. Sorry for the poor quality pics; blame the illness. Enjoy!

Garlic Cheese Pinwheel Rolls

• 1 ball pizza dough
• 2 tbls. butter (melted) or olive oil 
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• Parmesan cheese, grated (or others, I used a 4 cheese blend)
• fresh garlic, chopped (I used 3-4 cloves) 
• fresh basil, chopped (1-3 tbsp.)
• kosher salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• garlic powder

Makes about a dozen rolls.

Lightly grease an 8-inch x 8-inch glass baking pan. Set it aside.

Lightly flour a large cutting board and roll out the store bought pizza dough. Remember to rotate the dough a quarter and flip it occasionally as you roll it into a large rectangle.

Pour the melted butter or olive oil into the center of the rectangle. Lightly spread it over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the cheese over the entire area of the oiled dough. Again, I like a mixture of cheese. Another option is to use a pesto blend for some flavor (you can really get creative with these babies). Sprinkle the remainder of your toppings evenly across the dough (herbs, spices, salt, pepper, etc.).

Start to roll the dough in one long tube, beginning with the long side furthest from you. Roll it towards you, tucking the dough in on itself, as if it were a giant spring roll. You should end up with a very large, very long dough roll (with all the toppings safely nested inside, like a jelly roll).

Next, as evenly as possible, chop the dough roll into 12 pieces. Make them about an inch or so wide. If the end pieces don't quite match up in size to the rest, you can mush them together to form one roll in the pan.

Very carefully, take each dough roll and place it in your pre-oiled pan. Begin at the corner of the pan and nestle each roll in next to each other like you would with a batch of cinnamon rolls (you will want one cut side facing up). Continue doing so until all the rolls are wedged into the pan, one happy nestled family.

Cover with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap, and let sit in a warm spot for 30 minutes to rise. Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.

Once the rolls have risen, pop them in the oven for 20 minutes or so. You will know they are done when the dough is lightly browned, and the cheese has bubbled up and formed a nice, golden brown crust.

Let them cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, then scoop out and enjoy hot from the oven. My gosh, they are good!