Sophie's Foodie

Letting Bratwurst soak up some suds, spices and then grilling them is a real blast. A griller's delight! However, a real pay off (maybe a major goal thing for the entire year) is being able to sink your teeth into one as it comes off the grill! "Holy Jumpin' Up And Down, Martha!"
But first dude, you have to get yourself happily involved into a premium Bratwurst like Johnsonville, or "Brats" as many people call them. If you going to grill and eat Brats�buy the best, don't be "A Skimpy Dude"!
Just As Important If Not More Important: Purchase a bottle of beer for cooking the Bratwurst. Geez, maybe get a whole bunch more beer so that you can stay extremely focused and cool during this whole cooking and grilling process.
Music: And in the meanwhile, get with some funky music. Blues, jazz... "something that cooks a little!" Motivation and excitement stuff!
I used a bottle of "Henry Weinhard's Blackberry Wheat Ale" to cook the Brats in. I hope you remember some of their great commercials, "Hey there, where y'all goin' with all that beer?" from the Oregon Border Patrol guys.
Some folks prefer using a dark beer, or ale when cooking the Bratwurst, and that's cool! Actually, you could probably use a nice wine as a substitute. But Brats and beer kinda go together. Are you startin' to get it?
Recipe Time: (I'm assuming that if you have read this far, that you are still alive)

One Beer (Just one? You got to be kidding? Get a grip, dude! Chill!)

Package of Johnsonville Brats (A five pack. If you do this right 5 ain't goin' be enough)

Maybe Some Spice like Luzianne Cajun ('tis 1 of the best seasonings out there, period)

A Pan (Spring for the Bayou Cast Iron one at Amazon)

Any Kind Of BBQ Grill (One that lights up, dude)

For You� (A six pack of cold beer to get thru all the dark periods of grilling ...golly gee, like you never know when a minute flare-up might occur. Be prepared!)

I have a first-class shallow cast iron pan (like the Bayou below) that I can use on the barbie. It takes a little longer to warm up than a normal pan, but they are the best thing since sliced bread.
Ok, you don't really need a cool cast iron cookware pan like the Bayou necessarily, but they come in handy for other things, like using as a casserole or lasagna pan. Plus, Amazon has a great price on one.
Sure, you can buy flimsy, expensive aluminum foil pans all the time, but it won't take long before you realize you could have easily afforded the Bayou pan in the first place. What were you thinking? Don't be "A Skimpy Dude"! Geez!
Getting To The Gritties: Light both sides of the barbecue: For a gas BBQ, medium even low for the pan, between medium and high on the other side. For charcoal, push the coals to on side and put the pan on the other. For the Traeger Grill place directly over the middle on high heat.
Place a brew in the pan, place a brew in you. Let it get to a simmering type of temperature. Some folks add onions, peppercorns and all kinds of things. That's cool! Like maybe use your imagination. But, I hope it's not a first, dude!
I added bunches of Luzianne Cajun Seasoning to the pan. Place the Bratwurst in the pan and cook on both sides until they turn grayish. You will see that the seasoning sticks to the Brats as they are simmering.

Crunch Time: The whole idea, the premise, your goal for the week is not to destroy the Bratwurst. So let's be cool and gently cook them in a simmering temp. You do not want the casings to break.
Some people cook them for about ten minutes. It takes me more like 20 minutes. I cook them real slow.
Once you get the grayish look, it is time to grill them. Hey, not to hot of a grill. You don't want them to split. Is your brain starting to rally? Do you have the situation within reach?
What you want is nice grill marks on your Bratwurst. Move them around on the grill to insure even cooking, turning only once. Again, watch the heat, you don't want them burned on the outside and not cooked in the inside...that sucks big time!
So have fun with Bratwurst. Sure, you can grill the proverbial and cheaper weenie (dude, you don't ever want to know "what's in dat weenie") and, do you really really want to be known as "A Skimpy Dude"??? Get with the Brats!

Labels: Bayou Cast Iron Cookware, Brats, Bratwurst Recipe, Bratwurst Recipes, Cooking Bratwurst, Grilled Bratwurst Recipes, Grilling Bratwurst, How To Cook Bratwurst, Luzianne Cajun Seasoning, Traeger

My family and I love Country-style Pork Ribs. These are serious-sized ribs. My father-in-law use to call them Dinosaur bones, and rightfully so when he barbecued them.
This package of pork ribs weighed five pound and there were five of them. So each rib weighs a pound. These ain't etsy bitsy baby back ribs, folks! Ok, they are theoretically not even ribs at all, but...who cares!
Your goal, anytime you are BBQing, or cooking, should be to add taste and keep whatever you are cooking moist and tender. This may be a "Duh!" but the "moist & tender" part can be tough to achieve if not done right.
Let's get to the recipe, now. Wash the ribs and pat dry. Rub with a generous amount of EVOO.
If you don't know what that term means you may want to consult "Rachael's Unabridged Dictionary Of Cooking Terminology". Hey, you'll also learn what "Delish, Stoup & Yummo" means.
Just kidding, she's a Doll and prepares excellent food and you can learn a lot from her! Maybe the fastest cook in the world!
Rub the ribs with EVOO and placed in a plastic marinating container or large plastic bag. Next, pour a generous amount of a quality Rub on these puppies. I prefer to make my own and here is a good one from Cheryl Jamison (author of Smoke & Spice...see her two books below) who has given me permission to pass it on : "Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub Recipe".
Once you have her Rub made, distribute generously on the pork ribs and rub in real good. Now, this works like a champ for a marinade, just plain old yellow mustard. ( Has all the ingredients you'll need for one of the best marinades you'll run across)
Don't go berserk! But, pour on a fair amount of mustard and distribute with a cooking brush.
Best results dictate marinating the pork ribs over night. Before you put them on the grill or in the oven, let them sit out for 30 minutes while you get the cooking temperature up to medium or 325 degrees.
My Traeger Grill cooks on indirect heat and theoretically I can put them directly on the grill, but the mess with the mustard could be catastrophic. I highly suggest that you some type of pan when cooking.
On a gas grill, use indirect heat by lighting one side of the grill and putting the ribs on the other. On a charcoal grill, a two-zone fire should do the trick. Put a water pan in the middle of the grill to keep things moist. See this gas grill tip: ( How To BBQ Pork Ribs On A Gas Grill).
In an oven, I suggest using a Dutch Oven, or Clay Pot. Add a little water to the Dutch Oven so that you maintain moisture and don't burn up the meat.
Cooking time should be around two hours. Check for internal temperature, ideally around 170 degrees. I added another 20 minutes to this by smoking them on the Traeger at 90 degrees. You can do the same thing on a gas grill by using a "Smoker Box"!
Once you take the pork ribs off the BBQ, wrap in foil for 15 minutes before serving. I would even do the same with a Dutch Oven.
I hope you enjoyed this post on this very simple recipe. Sometimes things can just get too complicated and why not just do simple?

Labels: Gas Grill Tips, How To BBQ Pork Ribs, How To BBQ Ribs On A Gas Grill, How To Grill Pork Ribs, Traeger, Traeger Grills, Traeger Recipes

I have mentioned in other posts, that I have a gas grill, charcoal smoker and a Traeger Pellet Grill. I use them all, but for slow-cooking my Traeger puts out results that most other grills only dream about.
If you are not familiar with the Traeger brand they use a special wood pellet that is conveyed from a hopper to a small fire pit by an auger. There is a metal plate between the fire pit and the grill so that everything that you cook is done so by indirect heat.
Anytime that I BBQ a pulled pork, ribs, turkey, or if I do a couple of chickens at the same time, I use my Traeger. I have a Lil' Tex Elite and will have had it for two years come this Xmas.

The Traeger Pellet Grill is designed for slow-cooking. I am amazed on how moist and tender the meat turns out. What's cool is the wood pellets come in different flavors, like cherry, mesquite, alder, apple and so on.
The meat takes on the flavor of whatever pellet you are using. Many of the Traeger owners mix flavors to get a unique taste.
The units are built like "Brick Chicken Houses". They are well constructed and built to last.
Personally, I have found my Traeger Grill to be very economical to operate as compared to gas or charcoal. You should get the same results.
Traeger Smokers are very easy to operate. The clincher is: that you will get outstanding results with these grills even after a couple times of using one.

Labels: Apple Valley Westside BBQ, Barbecue, Traeger, Traeger Grill, Traeger Grills, Traeger Pellet Grill, Traeger Pellet Grills, Traeger Smokers