a bean counter's food blog
It’s cookout season–and any excuse to celebrate gets my vote! Brats are the perfect backyard barbecue food; they’re easy to cook and super simple to customize, just by switching up your relish and toppings.
I spent the morning hanging out with WBTV talking Bratsgiving! Check out the video below!
Without further ado, here are three brat relish recipes inspired by some of my favorite foods: banh mi, bruschetta, and guacamole!
Did you catch me talking sausage toppings on WBTV this morning? Check out the video link below!
Here we are, in the height of backyard barbecue season, with literally dozens of ketchup and mustard covered hot dogs under our belts, and I.am.bored. Don’t get me wrong, I love that classic combo, but sometimes I crave to shake things up a bit. Get a little spicy, a little saucy, a little something like THIS:
TOPPING REMIX #1: a Mexican-inspired sandwich using Johnsonville Chorizo Sausage topped with some of my homemade guacamole and fresh pico de gallo. Incredible flavor, practically impossible to eat just one.
TOPPING REMIX #2: a Johnsonville Turkey Sausage with Cheddar topped with barbecue sauce and a simple lightened up slaw. Hearty and healthified without sacrificing a pants size.
Back in Ohio, I had a lot of things. A house. A yard. Shrubbery. The whole kit and kaboodle. Sure, most people save downsizing til they’re empty-nesters, but me? Oh, no. I cut ties with three-quarters of my belongings at age 26, leaving behind my beloved hedging shears, lawn gnomes, and my beautiful propane grill (complete with double burners), and headed south. Since then, I’ve dreamed of the day I’d once again cook over an open flame, just me, my meat, and the great outdoors.
I spent the Memorial Day weekend at home in Ohio, and one morning I convinced my dad to teach me how to light a charcoal grill. As a soon-to-be-thirty, self-declared independent woman, I’m ashamed to publicly announce my ineptitude in this area. But standing in the backyard, listening to him explain the mechanics of the offset smoker while the flames licked at the mound of coals put a fire in my belly.
And when I returned home to Charlotte, this:
Even before I’d taken the grill out of the box, I invited a few friends over for sausage party. I stocked my fridge full of Johnsonville brats, opened up a bottle of wine, and got to assembling my new grill.
In retrospect, it probably would have been a good idea to give the ole grill a trial run. Nothing like going at it green with a crowd full of hungry bystanders. Though my dad had showed me how easy it was to light a charcoal grill using a charcoal chimney, I was overcome with a sudden confidence in the grilling aisle at Lowes, and when I picked up the chimney to put it in my cart, I thought, “oh, no, I got this,” and put the chimney right back on the shelf. Flash forward a few hours later, with the aforementioned starving bystanders, and me with nary a chimney, shred of newspaper, or drop of lighter fluid in sight.
An hour and one burnt thumb later, there was ash-covered charcoal… sort of.
And we waited.
Several mistakes were made this day, but I did do one thing right. Friends, ALWAYS have snacks on hand. The simple Johnsonville Andouille smoked sausage and caramelized onion pizza I threw together kept my friends from rioting while we faltered with the grill. This is sausage and onions done right. Classy, even.
And after two hours of “grilling” we FINALLY sat down and enjoyed some Johnsonville original brats plus some brat-stuffed jalapeno peppers. And you know what? It was fantastic. Even with all the flubs, as long as you don’t pierce the brat with a fork and leach it of its juices, that thing is sure to be delicious.
(As soon as everyone left, I logged onto Amazon and ordered a charcoal chimney.)
Upon review of my food photos from the past week, I was struck by just how much meh there was! I went out to eat more than usual, and you’d think the increase would have upped my odds of getting some great meals. So, apparently the odds were not on my side, BUT I did hit the recipe jackpot with these Asian-inspired pork tenderloin skewers!
Stay tuned for the recipe post coming later this week–I can’t wait to share it with you guys!
The skewers almost made up for the barrage of blah I endured. It started with dinner with my pal Vanessa at Levant, a Mediterranean restaurant uptown. The 7pm reservation I made was almost laughable given we were the sole patrons in the restaurant for the duration of our meal. Is this ever a good sign? Levant is owned by the same folks who own Kabob Grill (one of my favorite lunch spots in town). The menu is nearly identical, but the food that we were served was no comparison to Kabob. I’m still confused on this… I’ll have to swing by Kabob soon to fill my kafta cravings!
If you’ve checked out my Facebook page, you already know I’ve got a thing for Sunday breakfast. You’d also know what I cooked this week, and that I sliced half of my thumb off with my mandoline over the weekend. See what you’re missing?!
But I digress. Let’s get back to breakfast.
Six days of the week, I eat plain ole eggs with toast for breakfast, and I’m more than ok with it. But things change when Sunday rolls around. That’s when I start to crave something special–maybe a breakfast burrito or home fries or a big fat Belgian waffle. Despite this urge for decadence, nothing makes me happier than enjoying my lavish breakfast spread from the comfort of my pj’s, in my own house, sipping my own coffee.