Day 2: Brats and just a little bit more.

Brat on Ciabatta with Grilled Garlic Tomato Peppers

Simple is good. Cooking does not need to be complicated to be good, sometimes it's just a little extra that can make a simple meal special. Take the Brat for example.. it's pretty much a perfect example of the Sausage specimen, why mess with such a good thing, I cooked some up for my family the other night and thought... I really would like just something more with it.

When I was at the store I noticed they had in some ciabatta bread in the shape of long rolls... perfect... why get boring plain sugar loaded bread when I can have ciabatta! I quickly chopped up some veggies, threw them on with the brats. I didn't just serve my brat in my cold bun, in my head I'm thinking.. add flavor when you can, so I buttered it and threw it into the pan or on the grill.

Throw on some muenster cheese while its hot and top with the caramelized grilled peppers and garlic... it's a little more than just a Brat.

Next on my list of things to master... making my own sausage!

Ingredients

Good brats! (go with the best brat you have... we don't have a local butcher or delicatessen, but I have found Johnsonville has my favorite kind of pre-packaged brat)
About 2 cups of mixed peppers cubed or just sliced into bite size segments. (I had 2 jalpenos de-seeded, red capsicum(bell pepper) and orange capsicum (bell pepper) .. really just whatever is your favorite)
4 cloves fresh garlic smashed
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp Worcestshire sauce
1 tsp Brown sugar
Olive Oil
Grated Muenster Cheese
Ciabatta rolls or whatever is your favorite roll.. get what fresh and looking good from the bakery.

Originally I have done this out on the grill..but on the day I took pictures it was raining so I had to bring it indoors to my pan so sorry my pics aren't entirely accurate. Concept is there and my method is done through grilling.

Combine all peppers, tomatoes and garlic, drizzle over some olive oil and salt and pepper.
If you have a bbq vegetable tray (one with no holes in it) then use that but if not I just created a aluminium foil bowl and placed all my oiled vegies. I find it best to put the garlic on the bottom under the peppers so it can really soften and caramelize.


If outside put in foil and let cook down.


Place on direct heat on the grill.

On the other side of your grill place your brats over direct heat. They are a funny thing to grill brats, they are so big that you want to make sure they are cooked all the way through without burning the outside. Thanks to my Bobby Flay education on direct and indirect cooking I think I have worked out how to get the job done without a black dog.

Start with your brats on direct heat, I like to get lightly scoured marks around, and then move them to indirect heat part of your BBQ . Cover and let them cook like this for about 7 minutes, turning half way through. This will cook them on the inside! break one open to check they are fully done.

Meanwhile stir your vegies around and make sure they are softening evenly. About half way through the brats cooking splash on your worcestshire sauce and sugar on your peppers and mix through, then let the "zing" cook out of the sauce and reduce down. You will get some great flavors!

Right at the end place your lightly buttered rolls face down on the grill to give them a nice flavor seal.
Remove all items from heat... place sausage on Bun, sprinkle with grated muenster cheese, and top with as many veggies as you want.
Whualla... you got yourself a gourmet looking Brat.

Brat on Ciabatta with Grilled Garlic Peppers