Our German Experiment

Hubs was craving a visit to the beach and to the Hofbrau Beer Garden, a German restaurant in Panama City Beach.  Well we are on vacation this week but it is a staycation.  So I had Hubs find some recipes and I would try (try being the operative word) to recreate his meal.  He came across this blog and I gave it my best shot.

Here is what you need (I altered the original recipes just a bit):

Bratwurst
Pre-cooked Bratwurst (pre-cooked is just so much faster)
One white or yellow onion cut into rings
One green bell pepper, sliced
3 Tbsp Butter
1 clove of garlic (or if you lose yours like I did then a sufficient amount of garlic powder will suffice)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 beer or sherry (I used a basic light beer)

Add the butter to a hot skillet.  Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic for about 5 minutes.  Add brats, oregano, and beer.  Let the beer cook down.  About 10 minutes.  You want your pre-cooked brats to be warmed thoroughly.

Sauerkraut
16 oz sauerkraut (you can use original or bavarian but I used original)
3 Tbsp brown sugar

Add sauerkraut and brown sugar to a warm skillet.  Stir well so that the sugar is well distributed.  Cook about 10 minutes until warm.

Potato Salad
red potatoes (I used about 12 mini red potatoes)
1 Tbsp relish
1/2 Cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp mustard
Salt and pepper to taste


 You can bake the potatoes ahead of time or if you forget (like I did) then you can steam the in the microwave.  I placed the tiny potatoes in a bowl with about 1/4 cup of water in the bottom.  I microwaved for about 10 minutes.

I let the potatoes cool while I was preparing the other items so when I returned to the potatoes they were warm but not piping hot anymore.  Regardless of your cooking method, quarter the potatoes into bit sized pieces and add the mayo, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper.  Mix well.

Big beautiful onion.  I love Publix.

Tiny Potatoes

Cooking it up!

Bad picture but the final product!

So I admit that I was a little hesitant.  I'm not a beer fan and at first the skillet did smell quite beery.  I mean, of course it did.  But Hubs encouraged me to fix a plate.  We sat down and he dug in.  He just kept saying how good it was.  So, I got brave enough and sure enough!  It was!  I went and got my second brat out of the skillet even.  Hubs isn't a huge sauerkraut fan because of its bitter taste.  The brown sugar really helped that.  It didn't make it sweet but just gave it a goo flavor.  Add some mustard to dip your brat it and it just adds another layer.  You don't taste the mustard but the flavor of everything makes for one delicious bite.  So, I am claiming success!