Saturday, March 14, 2009

Seriously Yummy Sausage and Saurkraut

I shouldn't be surprised at all the northerners who can't appreciate a good fried bologna sandwich (snicker, snicker). Y'all probably don't like red eye gravy or grits either, do you? Well I love you anyway, bless your heart! ☺ Just means there's more for me.

Because I think it's just too sad if y'all go through life without having a good dish of sausage and sauerkraut at least once, I'm sharing what I do to the sauerkraut to make even fussy kids (or adults!) like it.

SAUSAGE & SAUERKRAUT
1-2 sausages per family member, depending on how much each person typically eats
[USE ANY KIND OF SAUSAGE YOU WANT! I've made this with a variety over the years. It's all good.]
1 large can sauerkraut
1 individual serving (bottle or sippy carton) of apple juice (apple cider is even better to use when you can get it)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon beef bouillon granules (if using cube, dissolve in apple juice)

You can brown the sausage or not; that's one of those personal choice things.
Rinse sauerkraut well. Really well! Don't mess around with this step. It's VERY important.
Place rinsed sauerkraut in a casserole dish, pour apple juice (or cider) over, sprinkle with brown sugar and beef bouillon granules. Top with sausages (browned or not). Put tin foil over casserole. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, removing tin foil for last 10 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes, applesauce or fried apples and brown bread (we prefer pumpernickel).

Muy delicioso! Really!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Bologna, Pickles and Saurkraut -- Foods That Make Me Swoon

Estoy muy satisfecha! Why, you ask? Because this southern girl just finished the most delectable fried bologna sandwich with a side of pickles and Cheetos. Oh my, it was good!

I've been craving this southern delicacy for quite a while and yesterday the hubby came home with the bologna. Hallelujah! But we didn't have any bread so I had to wait until today when we went shopping again. The bread (a nice round loaf) was fresh out of the oven and still warm when we got it home and sliced it.

To top it off, we also found a jar of pickles on the aisle of international foods. Thought it was kosher dill but since we don't know German, we weren't sure. It's not but we aren't sad 'cause these are the best pickles we've had since we arrived!

The bologna had a little something added to it. Can you guess what? No, seriously! Guess! Come on, what have I said they put on EVERYTHING? Eggs of course. Yep, hard boiled eggs had been added. But it wasn't in obnoxious amounts and didn't detract from the bologna at all.

Or maybe I'm just getting used to the eggs.

Also on the international food aisle we found what we think is sauerkraut. Again, can't be sure, and it's purple but we think that's 'cause they used red cabbage. We'll find out ☺ The last time we went to Santa Rosa we stopped at a little meat market in Belgrano (a German enclave) and picked up bacon and knackwurst. Didn't think about getting any sauerkraut though, and that's not something typically sold in stores here. But we're hoping we truly did score some so that tomorrow we can have sausage and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Yum!