Bombshell Barbecue
What an amazing night we had last night. The sun was high, the grill was lit and the food was outstanding (if I do say so myself). And thanks to my wonderful photographer friend Ian (http://furrycelt.com), it looks as amazing as it tasted.
What was on the menu:
Caprese Salad
Bratwurst in a sticky stout sauce
Sangria
Lavender Vodka Tonic
S’mores
Jalapeño poppers (sorry, I was taught this recipe in the strictest of confidence)
We lit the grill around 5:45pm, giving it plenty of time before our friends arrived to get to the perfect cooking temperature. I began prepping the veggies and getting the brats ready to grill. Here’s how to do that:
Ingredients
8 Bratwursts
2 bottles of stout
1 Onion, sliced
1/2 c. Dijon Mustard
2 T Molasses
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cloves
1 Bay leaf
Salt and Pepper
How to
Slice your onion in 1/4 inch slices and set aside. Put your brats and bay leaf in a deep skillet, deep enough to hold the brats and the beer. Put your sliced onion on top of the brats then pour the beers over top. Bring them to a boil then let them simmer for about 20 minutes with a cover on. After 20 mins, take the brats and bay leaf out and set them aside.
Bring your beer mixture up to a little bit higher of a boil and add in your other ingredients, whisking to combine. Once combined, lower to a light boil and let it cook down and reduce. I let the mixture cook down for a while, may be 30 minutes, until it became dark, thick and sticky.
Put your brats on the grill and cook both sides until you have a nice amount of grill lines on them.
Roll them liberally in the sauce, put on a bun and top with whatever you’d like. We topped with beer mustard and sauerkraut but I think they would have been just fine without the extra toppings.
I honestly want to put this sauce on everything I ever make. Everything. We had an in-depth conversation about what else we could stick in it, and ended up dipping potato chips in it. Holy cow. MAKE THESE BRATS. If you don’t, you will be leading a sad, sorry existence just short of awesome. You will know that something is missing.
I made the sangria from a previous post and used some of the lavender syrup that was prepared for the vodka tonics to give it just a little extra sweetness. It added something special, in my opinion!
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