Place brats in a large pot. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cook for 12 minutes.
While they cook, heat the grill.
Grill over high heat for color. Broiling or pan frying also works fine.
Serve as desired. Freeze remainder in freezer bags.
Reheat from frozen
Wrap in paper towel, microwave for 60 – 90 seconds per brat, turning after half the time.
If you’re looking for a delicious brown mushroom gravy, look no further!
Melt the butter (or bacon grease, lard or beef drippings – any of these will yield the most flavor) in a pan over medium-high heat and fry the onions until beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Add the mushrooms and cook 5-7 minutes or until golden and the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated.
Add the butter and melt. Add the flour, stir to combine and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring continually.
Add the beef broth, vinegar, thyme, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk continually until the gravy is thickened. Cover and simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer the gravy thinner add a little more water (or heavy cream if using)
Schnitzel can be made with about any meat. Due to the high price of beef and pork, you often find Putenschnitzel, made from turkey cutlets, offered in restaurants in Germany.
Note: For Jägerschnitzel, use this recipe and top with Brown Mushroom Gravy, see recipe.
Place the pork chops between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them until just 1/4 inch thick with the flat side of a meat tenderizer. Lightly season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place the flour mixture, egg, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls. Dip the chops in the flour, the egg, and the breadcrumbs, coating both sides and all edges at each stage. Be careful not to press the breadcrumbs into the meat. Gently shake off the excess crumbs. Don’t let the schnitzel sit in the coating or they will not be as crispy once fried – fry immediately.
Make sure the cooking oil is hot enough at this point (about 330°F) as you don’t want the Schnitzel to sit around in the coating before frying. Use enough oil so that the Schnitzels “swim” in it.
Fry the Schnitzel for about 2-3 minutes on both sides until a deep golden brown. Transfer briefly to a plate lined with paper towels.
Serve immediately with slices of fresh lemon and parsley sprigs or with your choice of sauce.
Serve with:
| Vegetable | Starch |
| Green Beans | Noodles |
| Broccoli | German Potato Salad |
| Asparagus | Spaetzle |
| Green Salad | French Fried Potatoes |
Pick a meat, any meat – boneless chicken breast, turkey cutlet, pork, veal, cube steak – this technique works with about anything, including fish (don’t pound the fish). Step by step photos below.
Get your meeze together: Chefs use a French term, mis-en-place (everything in place) to refer to the setup. Basically it means get everything out and ready before you get your hands dirty or start cooking.
Place flour in medium bowl and season with ½ tsp salt and some fresh cracked pepper.
Beat milk, egg and oil in another bowl to blend.
Place breadcrumbs in third bowl. You can also season the crumbs with salt and pepper or other seasonings.
Prep the meat: If using meat or poultry you will want to pound it to a uniform thickness. Turkey cutlets often come uniformly sliced. Fish varies with type and cut. Some is even, some not.
Chicken breast tends to have a thick edge that tapers to fairly thin on the other edge. Lay the chicken on a poultry cutting board with the length perpendicular to you and the wide side opposite from your knife hand. Use a chef’s knife and make a horizontal slice starting where the chicken is half the thickness of the thickest side. Slice to within 3/8 to a half inch of the thick edge and fold the breast open like a book.
You can use the same technique for fish, to get a thinner uniform thickness.
The word meat is used throughout the rest of this recipe, but it means the meat, fish or poultry of your choice.
Use plastic wrap above and below the meat to keep the board and mallet from sticking. A gallon plastic bag works good for this. It also helps to sprinkle or spray the meat with a bit of water to reduce friction.
Pound the meat with a mallet or a small heavy pan from the center toward the edges. Use a sliding motion to help spread the meat to a uniform thickness. Thickness can vary with what you want or the recipe recommends, but a ¼ to 3/8 inch is typical, but let the recipe dictate. Try not to pound or tear a hole through the meat or the plastic. Freezer bags have an advantage here due to their thickness. You are going for uniform thickness on all the pieces so everything cooks for the same length of time.
• Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Dredge in (or sprinkle on) the flour, shaking off excess.
• Dip and turn to coat in egg mixture.
• Dredge in breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere on both sides.
• Set on a plate or baking sheet. Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Chill.
Some chefs recommend a minimum of ½ hour in the refrigerator to let the crumbs set and dry a bit. This can help the breading to stick to the food during cooking. Opinions vary on this, so try both ways over time and see which gives you best results.
Most chefs recommend the dry hand/wet hand or single handed approach to breading. Whatever you use, your hand or a utensil, it never goes backwards in the coating process. You’ll have messy glop by the time you are finished.
When ready to cook, melt some butter or oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. If you are using both butter and enough oil to come half way up the side of the cutlets, let the butter melt and the foaming to stop before adding the oil. Wait until the oil is hot (365ºF) before adding the cutlets. Drop a bit of flour, crumbs or the like in the oil near the edge. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough. You can also touch the edge of the food into the oil. If it sizzles, the oil is hot. If not, then put it back on the plate until the oil gets hotter. You can sometimes see the oil shimmer a little or the butter start to brown slightly. Don’t let the butter get too brown unless your recipe is calling for brown butter, but that’s not what we’re doing here.
Add meat and cook until golden brown, About 2-5 minutes on the first side. The final time depends on what you are cooking and the thickness. Use tongs or a spatula to lift the edge and check. When ready, turn over and cook the other side. Again the time may vary and it also depends on whether your recipe is done at this point or there are additional cooking steps.
Transfer to warm plates (or a sheet pan in a 200ºF oven) and keep warm. The oven can add a slight bit of additional cooking, but that is not the goal here. You are just keeping the food hot until all of it is ready.
Serve with:
| Vegetable | Starch |
| Green Beans | Noodles |
| Broccoli | German Potato Salad |
| Asparagus | Spaetzle |
| Green Salad | French Fried Potatoes |
Love tender-crisp cooked celery. Makes a great combination and alternative to beef with broccoli, etc. My last time making this I only had half a bunch of celery and no green onions. I add a julienned onion to round it out. An excellent dish.
Beef:
Tenderize: (optional)
Marinade:
Celery & Stir-fry:
Sauce:
Beef:
Note: Tenderize the beef with a Jaccard before slicing. (optional)
Slice the beef with the blade tilted 45 degrees to get a thin cut through the grain.
Tenderize: (optional)
Mix 1/4 tsp baking soda and 3TBS water in a small bowl. Add beef and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Marinate the beef: Add egg white to a small bowl. Add soy sauce, vinegar and beat until foamy. Add meat and mix to coat. Add corn starch, mix. Add oil to meat and stir well. Marinate 15 to 30 minutes.
Drain to remove excess marinade.
Make the sauce: Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Prepare celery: Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, add 1 tsp salt and celery and onion if using. Blanch 2 minutes, drain and set aside.
Stir Fry: Add oil to wok. Add meat to wok, stir fry until light brown all over, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove meat fromwok, set aside.
Add green onion, garlic, ginger to wok. Stir fry until fragrant. Add additional oil if the wok is too dry.
Add celery and stir fry one minute. Return meat to wok. Stir fry 30 seconds. Add sauce and bring to boil. Stir until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning. An extra tsp each of soy sauce and oyster sauce is always welcome.
Serve with steamed rice.
We love chicken thighs for how much flavor they bring. Grilling your thighs means even more flavor and we are always down for that. Unless you burn the crap out of them like I usually do. I modified the grill instructions to improve the chances of success.
Place the chicken thighs on a large plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides. Work the seasoning into the chicken. Let sit, in the refrigerator, for at least an hour.
Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.
Add the vinegar, honey and garlic and stir until the honey has dissolved. Season with salt and pepper. Set near the grill.
Heat a gas grill to high and clean and grease the grates with canola oil.
Turn off one side of gas grill. Add chicken skin side down to the side that is off and grill, flipping often and basting with sauce, until cooked through, 10 minutes per side.
Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with chives and parsley.
Add a glop of steamed rice, maybe some pot stickers or an egg roll and enjoy.
Beef:
Marinade:
Sauce
Slurry
Stir-Fry
Marinate the beef:
In a bowl add sliced beef, salt, sesame seed oil, white pepper, egg white, 1½ TBS of corn starch, 1 TBS oil, and mix together well. Marinate for 5 to 15 minutes.
Premix the sauce:
To a small bowl, add oyster sauce, hot pepper sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, Shaoxing wine, and sugar. Mix well, set aside.
Make a slurry:
Whisk together 1 TBS of corn starch and 2 TBS of water in a bowl.
Stir-fry the beef:
Add 2 TBS of oil and the beef to your wok. Cook on high heat until the beef is done to medium. Set the beef aside to drain oil.
Stir-fry the vegetables:
In a wok add 2 TBS of oil, minced ginger, minced garlic, white onions, and stir-fry for several seconds.
Next add the beef, green onions, dark soy sauce and a cup of water or stock, bring to a boil.
Add the premix sauce and mix. To thicken the sauce, slowly add slurry to your stir-fry and return to boil. Add additional until it’s the desired thickness.
Serve.
Chicken version of Mongolian Beef. Add a glop of steamed rice or some lo mein, maybe some pot stickers or an egg roll and enjoy.
Chicken & Marinade
Sauce
Slurry
Stir-Fry
Mise, Mise, Mise, get your mise together! This means me! This happens so fast, that you must get everything prepped and measured before cooking starts.
Marinate the Chicken:
In a bowl add sliced chicken, salt, egg white, white pepper, sesame oil, 1½ TBS of cornstarch and 1 TBS of oil. Mix everything together well. Marinate for 5 to 15 minutes.
Make the sauce:
Mix vinegar, Shaoxing wine, hoisin sauce, hot pepper sauce, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl.
Make a slurry:
whisk together 1 TBS of cornstarch and 2 TBS of water in a bowl.
Stir-fry the chicken:
Add 2 TBS of cooking oil and your chicken to your wok and cook on high heat until chicken is fully cooked all the way through.
Set the chicken aside to drain oil.
Stir-fry the vegetables:
To the wok add 2 TBS of oil, white onions, minced ginger, minced garlic, green onions, and stir-fry for several seconds.
Next add the chicken, green onions, and soy sauce.
To thicken the sauce, slowly add slurry to your stir-fry and return to boil. Add additional until it’s the desired thickness.
Similar to Beef & Broccoli, but with Shrimp. Mmm, good.
Shrimp & Marinade:
Broccoli:
Slurry:
Sauce:
Stir-fry:
Mise, Mise, Mise, get your mise together! This means me! This happens so fast, that you must get everything prepped and measured before cooking starts.
Marinate the shrimp:
In a bowl add shrimp, salt, 2 tsp sesame oil, a pinch of white pepper, egg white, 1½ TBS of cornstarch, and mix well. Add 1 TBS cooking oil and mix a bit more. Marinate for 5 to 15 minutes.
Make the sauce:
In a small bowl add oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper.
Make a slurry:
In another bowl, make a slurry from 1 TBS cornstarch and 2 TBS water.
Broccoli:
Put broccoli and 1 tsp cooking oil in boiling water. Return to boil and cook to desired tenderness, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water to stop cooking.
Stir-fry:
Add 2 TBS of cooking oil and the shrimp to your wok. Cook on medium heat until opaque. Remove to bowl with broccoli.
To the wok, add a small amount of cooking oil and add ginger and garlic, stir. Return shrimp and broccoli to wok. Add 1 TBS cooking wine and 2 TBS water to wok and stir for a few seconds.
Add sauce to wok, stir.
To thicken the sauce, slowly add slurry to your stir-fry and return to boil. Add additional slurry until it’s the desired thickness.
I found this recipe when looking for a Salmon and Brussels Sprouts combo. Surprisingly, there are a lot to be found, but very few that looked like they were properly seasoned or cooked. Make sure the Salmon is in equal size pieces, otherwise they won’t cook evenly.
Heat the oven to 450°F, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the Brussels Sprouts and onion with the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast on the bottom rack, tossing once, until golden and tender, 20 minutes total.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the maple syrup, mustard, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Place the salmon on a second rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, then brush it with the maple mixture.
When the vegetables have cooked for 8 minutes, put the salmon on the top rack and roast until opaque throughout, 10 to 14 minutes minutes. The temperature in the center should be 135°F
Serve the salmon with the vegetables.