Cooking With Us - e46 - Campfire Beer Brats

Since September 12th was Theron's 35th birthday, we decided to go on a camping trip!

Theron thought it would be fun to shoot a 'Cooking with Us' the night we arrived,
so we turned to a friend's suggestion that was very exciting to Theron:
brats (and cheese) cooked in beer!

 The fact it was in the 40's and basically pitch black outside while we cooked
over a persnickety campfire made it difficult to say the least!
But, the end result definitely paid off!

As you can see from this still, our brats cooked gorgeously!

Please watch it full screen, high-res, and share!

Also, make these! You won't regret it! 

Well, your waistline might :)

 You have to agree this looks amazing and fun!

Jump right in after the cut :)

I get it, this is probably one of the more difficult fonts I could have chosen for the title.

For some reason the entire camping/cooking at night thing 

felt more than just a little 'scary campfire stories'-esque to me.

Speaking of camping, we found out quickly that Brigly was not at all a fan.

Then again, he's spoiled.

He prefers sidewalks to grass, and being in the house with me 

rather than outside with Theron when we are BBQ'ing - 

so really, it wasn't a big surprise.

 Anyway, onto the beer brats!

Start by being shocked at how quickly your new cast iron crock pot
has gotten crazy-hot over the fire.

And pour in beer 1 of 3 :)

In go two more beers!

We used Spotted Cow.

If you live outside of Wisconsin, you'll have to pick a different beer.

Sorry.

 We also used Johnsonville Chipotle & Monterrey Jack brats.

A-ma-zing!

Theron loved that we passed the sign for Johnsonville (just down the road, really) 

on our way to the campsite.

How much more authentic can you get?

Wisconsin brats, Wisconsin beer.
(and later, Wisconsin cheese!)

Add your brats to your beer, and stir them.

Keep the lid on and cook them for a while.

During this time you may choose to observe how amazing fire is.

No one would blame you.

You may also choose to paraphrase (and misquote) Macbeth.
Hopefully no one will blame you for that either.

(Random Side-note: My husband was playing classical music this entire time.)

I can't say how long we boiled our brats for.

My guess would be somewhere around 20-30 minutes.

The bottoms got a bit crispy as, at one point, all our beer evaporated.

That's OK - Theron liked it that way, and I just cut the burnt part off of mine.

They were still delicious!
Just look how beautiful they are. ^^

Now it's time to make your cheese sauce.

For this, you'll need one more beer.

And the cheese of your choosing.

Don't you love the spotlight?
Theron hung a tiny flashlight from an even tinier twig.

He's so clever.

 At first I regretted picking this cheese, as it wasn't too exciting.

Thankfully, cooking it in beer (and leftover brat grease) made it super fantastic!

Put it on your fire and cook your cheese till it's a good, melty consistency.

Meanwhile, tell your dog in a shocked fashion that you're camping.

He will, reactively, look shocked.

Stir your cheese and be excited because - it's getting there! :)

Once it's ready, let it cool!
Because that is some hot liquid right there!

But, basically, you're ready to put together your brat-dog!

This was mine, with the burnt bottom of the brat cut off, and heaping with cheesy goodness.
(And some onion, and some sad black beans on the side.)

The cheese was phenomenal and stringy! 

This is a good thing!

I am not a fan of brats, but I was seriously excited about these guys!
They were just so dang good!

What's left to do?

Devour them!!!

As I said, we also made beans to go with them...

As well as potatoes and onions...

But really, these guys were the stars of the evening (and the podcast)!

SO GOOD!

Then, of course, I did a cheesy scary-story-camping-style closing...

 And Brigly did a fancy dance to beg for cheese ;)

Happy Birthday to my lovie!!

I hope you guys try this recipe :)
You'll love it!

Cheers!

-Vallers!

Recipe:

Make a fire. 

Make a good, hot fire. Especially if it's freaking freezing outside!

- pack of 5 brats 

(I highly, strongly, passionately recommend Johnsonville's Chipotle Monterrey Jack brats)

- 3 beers (if you're in Wisconsin, you know to use Spotted Cow. If you're not... shrugs. Beer.)

- Pour 3 beers into your cast iron crock pot, which is heating up on the fire.

Put your brats in the beer-filled pot. Cover.  Cook, stirring occasionally, till they're done.  We didn't time this. By half an hour I bet they're done!  Wrap in foil. Don't worry... They'll stay warm despite it being in the low 40's outside ;)

- Cheese

Buy whatever cheese you want, cubed or shredded.

Pour another beer in your pot, add the cheese into the pot, put on the fire.

Cook this, stirring occasionally, till the cheese has melted.

- Buns

Hopefully you've got some hot dog buns, because you'll want that for your stuff to stay together!

Put your brat in your bun, load that with your beer-cheese.

(We also put in onions we cooked on the fire)

Consume.

Yes, we ate all the brats.

  

Transcript:
Do you like camping?

You wanna go so- He's fine.

Hi, welcome to another episode of KumoCafe's Cooking with us.

As you can see, we're camping!

We're going to try the brats in beer recipe that Kimberly Kenney posted on my facebook.

Someone -
Brigly doesn't like camping.
He doesn't like it.

I think step one is to put the beer in the pot.

Nice and hot.

A hot pot?

Oh!
Oh my god.

That beer is boiling away...

No! Precious beer!

Jesus.

These are Johsnonville brats.
What kind of brats are they?

Um.. I don't remember.

Chipotle Monterey Jack.

Holy Mackerel!

Boilin' beer brats.

Hmm, pretty good, it's gonna be yum yum.

Oh, Look at that!
Look at that.

What I'm talkin' about!

Double, double, toil and trouble...
Cauldron.. burn and beer brats bubble.
Ok that's what I wanted to say.

Turn that, turn that one more.

Look, look how... er..
Look, there we go! Beautiful!

Oh wait...

Beautiful brats.  What a great job!

Time for the cheese?

Welcome to KumoCafe's Cooking with Theron... the day before his birthday!

I'm just trying to find the right footing -
Well, there you go.

Brigly, holy shit! Did you know we're camping!?

It's getting there.

Whoa!

Wow!

Awesome job, that looks amazing, that looks really liquidy.
For sure.

Yeah, I'mma let it cool.

Bean Time!

I love this, this is so cool right now.
You know baby?

What, you like camping?

This is cool!  I don't know if I like the camping part.
You just like fire.

Potatoes cooked perfectly, our onions are cooked perfectly, and now the butter is going inside the potato, as you can see, perfectly.

Puppy's pre-birthday brat-dog.

Oh, well that looks more right.
A little bit, right?

It's just at the bottom.

Mmm...
Wow - look at that!

That's a yummy, yummy brat.

Is it a good brat?
It's really good.
Yeah?

Make it this way?
Yeah.

Is it worth it?

It... yeah.

Am I doing it right?

Yeah.

Yeah, it was boiled in beer.
Tastes... extremely like it was boiled in beer.
And made...

Made from beer.

Yours is a mess.

What's new?

It's good!

It is good, right?

Now what do you say?
It's really good all together!
The only brat you've ever... liked.

Make it!

But perhaps... in an easier environment.
No! 

Make it in this vi- environment, just during the day.

Ohm!

K, Closing.

Thank you for joining us, on this episode of Cooking with Us.

We'll see you next time?

Muahahaha!!

Happy Birthday Theron.
Brigly, I want cheese, I want cheese!

I feel so rustic out here...