Family Chow Hall

I’m sure I’ve posted about bratwurst before. Our entire family likes bratwurst - I always grill it and we stuff it into hot dog buns and everyone puts their assorted toppings on.

Pat likes to put sauerkraut on his, our oldest likes sauerkraut, onions, brown mustard, and horseradish on his. My oldest daugher puts ketchup on hers (Pat thinks this is a sin against her German heritage). Our second daughter and I both like either mustard or sauerkraut, depending on our mood. Jacob (who turns 6 today) usually wants his cut up and eats it plain, as does our two-year-old.

Brats are Jacob’s usual requested birthday meal. I still ask, but it’s just a formality. He loves bratwurst, so I have some in the freezer, just waiting for his birthday to arrive.

Here’s how I prepare bratwurst:

Boil the links for about 10 minutes. This precooking helps prevent undercooking when you get them on the grill. If you skip the precooking, the brats will often be black on the outside and still pink in the middle.

Then, heat up the grill and keep a squirt bottle of water handy. Grill over medium heat for another ten minutes. Unfortunately, bratwurst are very high in fat and the juices cause plenty of flare-ups while they are being grilled. It’s best to stay nearby and be prepared to put out that fire.

Check for doneness. This is pork, so you always want to be sure it’s cooked thoroughly. When cooking bratwurst, I cut into every single one and check the center before I take them off the grill. If the center looks the slightest bit pink, I leave them on for a bit longer.

Have plenty of toppings handy. As noted above, popular toppings are onions, sauerkraut, brown mustard, ketchup, as well as pickle relish, shredded cheese, and coleslaw.

Enjoy and Happy Birthday Jake!

I’ll post of picture of him next week.

Coming up with appealing lunches to pack can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.

I love a challenge

Really, I’m growing more and more every day to enjoy packing Pat’s lunch. Oh, sure, sometimes I’d rather throw the lunch box out the nearest window than spend ten minutes packing food to put into it.

So here’s something new I have been giving him sometimes that he likes a lot:

A bagel - one of those with “everything” bagels that’s got all sorts of seeds on and in it. He can split and toast it at work.
Cream cheese - I put a good-sized portion of cream cheese in a small plastic container.
Smoked Salmon - a couple of ounces of smoked salmon wrapped in plastic wrap or in a small baggie.

He assembles this when he opens his box for lunch — He toasts the bagel, spreads the cream cheese on it, then tops it with the salmon.

His lunchbox typically looks something like this:

breakfast - yogurt with berries and granola or a package of oatmeal

lunch - a sandwich, wrap, leftovers or salad

snack - a Payday candy bar, an apple, or some cheese and crackers

Packing his lunch isn’t a burden at all, but another way to bless someone I love.

Seriously. Manicotti can be made simply and easily. I love manicotti (eating it, anyway) but for years I never made it at home and would only get it if we went out for Italian. That happens about once every two or three years, so I wasn’t getting much manicotti.

A year or so ago, however, I opened my new issue of Taste of Home magazine and found an easy recipe for manicotti. I had to try it immediately, and guess what?! It worked! No more trying to stuff a gooey cheese mixture into slippery tubes of cooked pasta. Hooray! Instead, you make crepes, place the cheese filling in the center of each, and roll them up, just like enchiladas.

So, I MUST give credit to the wonderful people at Taste of Home for publishing the original recipe. I - of course - have adjusted the recipe to suit my own taste and cooking preferences.

The directions are a little lengthy, but it’s really not hard to make. With my daughter helping (she made most of the crepes while I mixed the cheeses and sauce) it took us about 30 minutes to put this together.

Homemade Manicotti
makes about 10 tubes

Crepes:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. milk
3 eggs
1/2 t. salt

Filling:
1/2 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. shredded mozzerella cheese
1/4 c. shredded parmesan or romano cheese
1 egg
1/2 t. basil
dash of salt

Sauce:
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
OR
1 batch of my spaghetti sauce

First, ya gotta make the crepes. This is not nearly as hard as I once believed. Whisk all of the crepe ingredients in a large bowl. This will look like thin pancake batter - You may have to add a little bit of milk to get the right consistency. Heat a small skillet (5 inch) over medium heat. If it’s a non-stick skillet, you probably don’t need any oil. Spray it with a little cooking spray. Now, pour about 1/4 to 1/3 c. of the batter into the skillet and let it spread by tipping the pan in different directions. Let the crepe cook until you can see that it’s completely dry. Don’t flip it or let it brown. If it browns, turn the heat down. Stack your crepes with wax paper between them.

Next, mix the filling ingredients all together, and get ready to fill the crepes with this mixture.

Pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Put a little filling on each crepe and roll them up. Place seam side down into the pan. When you’re done with that, pour the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle some extra mozzerella or romano cheese over it all.

Finally, heat your oven to 350. Cover your manicotti with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then take the foil off and bake 20 more minutes.

Enjoy!