Beer-Braised Brats and Bacon with Apple Kraut

Recipe: Beer-Braised Brats and Bacon

Ingredients

8 pieces uncooked bacon strips
8 uncooked bratwurst
8 skewers or toothpicks*
4 cups beer, your favorite
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, optional
8 hoagie or brat buns (optional)
Mustards and ketchup (optional)

Instructions

Wrap bacon around brats and secure both ends of bacon with a skewer or toothpicks.
In a large wide-lipped pan, add beer and bring to a simmer. Taste and add sugar if a sweeter flavor is desired. Braise sausages, covered over low heat, in beer until bacon is limp and sausages are slightly firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove brats and reserve 1/2 cup remaining beer (for using in Apple-Kraut recipe), discarding remaining beer or reserving for another use.
Bring a gas or charcoal grill to high heat. Oil rack and grill sausages, with bacon attached, 6-8 minutes on each side, or until cooked through (165 degrees) turning sausages to evenly grill and fry bacon. Do not pierce sausages while cooking as that will cause them to drain savory juices and become dry. Do not leave brats unattended; you may have flare-ups from the bacon fat. If flare-ups occur, cover grill or move brats away from flame to cooler portion of the grill.
Remove skewers or picks from brats before serving. Serve with Apple-Kraut (recipe below); buns and condiments, optional.

*If using wooden skewers or toothpicks, soak in water 1 hour before using to help prevent flare-ups.

Combined preparation time: 1 hour

Number of servings (yield): 8 Bacon-wrapped brats

Recipe: Apple-Kraut

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or canola oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 apples*, washed, cored, then thinly sliced
4 cups sauerkraut (not from a can), rinsed
2 teaspoons caraway seeds

Instructions

Over medium low heat, heat butter or oil. Add onions to pan and sauté with brown sugar and a pinch of kosher salt 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Raise heat to high, then deglaze pan with 1/4 cup of the reserved beer from the brat recipe (above). Stir, let reduce a minute, then add sliced apples to the onion mixture.
Simmer an additional 10 minutes. Stir in rinsed sauerkraut, caraway seeds and remaining beer. Heat through before serving.

For your next tailgate, prepare Apple--Kraut separately, in advance, and reheat in a pan on the grill. Braise bacon-brats in advance and grill to order. Serve on a plate or hoagie roll, top with Apple-Kraut and pass the spicy mustard. German Potato Salad is the perfect accompaniment.

Combined preparation time: 1 hour

Number of servings (yield): Accompanies 8 Bacon-wrapped brats