Reuben Dip

Inspiration:
A recipe from a local cookbook


Ingredients:

• 1/3 pound deli corned beef, sliced into very thin strips
• 1 can sauerkraut, drained
• 2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup Thousand Island salad dressing
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish, regular or creamy
• cocktail rye bread, toasted
  

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients and pour into pie plate or shallow baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees until bubbly. Serve with toasted cocktail rye bread.

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10

Sausage and Sauerkraut Pizza

Inspiration:
We have sauerkraut pizza at the Vermilion Club in Tower, MN every time we visit my aunt and uncle's cabin. It sounds like a weird combination, but it's really good! I think the leftovers are even better. Vegetarian sauerkraut pizza would be tasty as well.


Ingredients/Instructions:

• pizza dough (see link for instructions)
  
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
  
• pizza sauce (just mix together)
  
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• toppings
  
• 2 cups "pizza blend" shredded cheese
• 3/4 lb Italian sausage, browned and crumbled
• 1 can sauerkraut, well drained
  

Tim's Rating: 10/10
Liz's Rating: 9.5/10

Wisconsin-Style Bratwurst

Inspiration:
A love for bratwurst due to our Wisconsin upbringing.

Ingredients:

• fresh bratwurst
  (not pre-cooked; preferably from a local butcher)
• hard rolls
• spicy mustard
  (my favorite is Beer'n Brat Mustard)
  
• 24 ounces beer
  (preferably Miller, since these are Wisconsin-style brats, but really any beer but Budweiser!)
• large sweet onion, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
  
• sauerkraut
  (preferably bagged or Frank's Kraut)

Instructions:

1. Prepare coals in a charcoal grill.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot on medium-low heat, simmer/boil brats and onion in beer (add water to cover if necessary) until brats are cooked through.
3. Continue to boil onions in beer after removing the brats.
   
4. Grill brats until nicely browned.
5. Serve in hard rolls with mustard, onions, and sauerkraut.

Notes:
In a discussion on a cooking board I frequent, we shared different bratwurst preparation styles. Some people, like me, prefer to boil the brats in beer and onion prior to grilling. Other people swear by grilling the raw brats first, then soaking in beer and onions before serving, because it soaks up more beer flavor that way. Finally, some people add green pepper to the beer-onion mixture. In my opinion, green peppers do NOT belong with bratwurst! Italian sausages, maybe, but not bratwurst.

I hope you enjoy our method.