Across the Kitchen Table:

Clafouti: A Quick and Easy Summer Dessert

The Cold Facts About Iced Tea

Bratwurst Day was revived some years later in a tamer incarnation. The festival itself has never been the same, but the brats are as good as ever, and Sheboygan’s title as "The Bratwurst Capital of the World" has never been in dispute. If you’ve had the pleasure of eating bratwurst in Sheboygan, you are already salivating at the memory. If not, here’s a primer on the manufacture, preparation, and consumption of this splendid sausage, and a way to order the genuine article. Accept no substitutions: good bratwurst must originate in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.

A Bratwurst Primer

• How do you pronounce it? Bratwurst has a short A, as if it were spelled "braht" (rhymes with "lot"). Most folks refer to bratwurst in the plural, as "brats."
  
  
• What’s the recipe? It’s a secret, or a bunch of secrets. Every butcher in town has his or her own recipe. In general, it’s mostly pork, a little beef, salt, pepper, and spices (here’s where it gets tricky: garlic, nutmeg, and who knows what else). It’s all ground up together and stuffed into natural casings (that would be the small intestine of a pig).
  
  
• How do you cook ‘em? In preparation, you can soak the brats in beer. Otherwise, keep them cool. Never prick holes in the skin. To cook the brats, build a charcoal fire in your fryer. (Other places have charcoal grills or barbecues or cookers, but Sheboygan has fryers. The act of cooking the sausage on the fryer is called "frying out." If you invite your neighbors, you say, "Come on over and we’ll fry out.") When the coals are gray, lay the brats on the grill, all facing the same way, and turn them frequently. If the fire flares up, squirt it with a little water.
  
  
• What do you do while the brats are cooking? You drink beer.
  
  
• How do you know when they’re done? Squeeze a brat gently. If it’s firm, it’s done. This usually takes 20 to 25 minutes. Some cooks then plop them in a covered pan on the back of the grill into a mixture of beer, chopped onions, and melted butter. Others simply serve them right away.
  
  
• How do you eat ‘em? First of all, butter a genuine baked-in-Sheboygan hard roll, like a big hamburger bun but infinitely better (crusty on the outside, soft on the inside). It’s acceptable to eat just one brat, but most people stuff two into the bun. This is called a "double brat." Add brown mustard (not yellow), a dab of ketchup, dill pickles, and raw onions, a combination known as "the works." (No lettuce, no sliced tomatoes, no mayo. Ever.) You’ll need napkins to wipe your chin, and something cold to drink.
  
  
• Where can I buy bratwurst? Our supermarket in New Hampshire sometimes has genuine Sheboygan bratwurst in the freezer case, so they do get around. My mother always bought brats from Miesfeld’s Triangle Market, telephone 920-565-6328; you may be able to convince the store to ship you some. Johnsonville Sausage Company has a good Web site, www.johnsonville.com, where you can order bratwurst and all the fixings for overnight or two-day delivery, shipped in ice.
  
  
• What about the hard rolls? It’s a problem. Rather than ruin a precious bratwurst by sticking it into a squishy hamburger bun, I prefer to use crusty French bread, which has nearly the right texture if not the shape. Life is imperfect, but good.

Bratwurst Recipes:

Bratwurst Medallions in Four-Season Sauce

In a saucepan, cover the bratwurst with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse. Cut brats into 1/2" medallions. Combine remaining ingredients in a crock pot and cook on a low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Add the bratwurst medallions and stir to combine. Serve with toothpicks and small plates. Serves 12.

Sheboygan County Brat Balls

Thoroughly mix meat with crumbs and pepper. Form into 50-55 small balls (wet hands with cold water to make this easier). Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350°F. Place in serving dish and top with sauce.

Sauce: Mix 1 cup Gulden’s spicy brown mustard with 1 cup honey. Pour over brat balls. Serve hot with toothpicks. Makes 50-55 appetizers.

Clafouti: A Quick and Easy Summer Dessert

The recipe that follows draws on the classic description in Child/Bertholle/Beck’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One, with input from Richard Sax’s recipe in Classic Home Desserts.

3 cups black or red sweet cherries
1-1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or kirsch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup flour
confectioners sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pit the cherries, catching any juices in a bowl. In a blender, combine milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, flour, and cherry juices and blend for 1 minute or until smooth. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan. Place the cherries in the buttered dish and pour the batter over the top. Bake for about 45 minutes, until puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The clafouti will sink slightly as it begins to cool. Serve warm, sprinkled with confectioners sugar. Makes about 6 servings.

The Cold Facts About Iced Tea

Tea — the leaves of the evergreen shrub Camellia sinensis — has comforted and fortified its drinkers ever since the Chinese began drinking it hot thousands of years ago. But there is no record of anyone pouring tea over ice until 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair. The weather was sweltering and the public was indifferent to Englishman Richard Blechynden’s hot tea concession. In desperation, he poured tea over ice cubes and invented a beverage that has become synonymous with summer. (Except in the South, where it’s enjoyed year-round and is always sweetened).

The best iced tea begins with the best hot tea. Whether you use tea bags or loose tea, brew up a pot of strong tea. As a rule of thumb, for iced tea use a teabag (or a teaspoon of loose tea) for every 3/4 cup boiling water; e.g., 6 teabags for a quart of boiling water. If you like your tea sweetened, add sugar to the hot brew. A tablespoon of sugar for every 2 cups of boiling water is about right, but you can adjust it to your own taste. Let the tea steep for about 10 minutes, then stir to be sure sugar is dissolved, and remove teabags or strain out the loose tea. Let the tea cool to room temperature before pouring it over ice cubes in tall glasses. Add a sprig of mint or a twisted lemon slice if desired, find a comfy chair in the shade, and enjoy. If you must browse the Net while drinking your tea, be sure to check out www.tea.co.uk.

Iced Tea, the Variations:

Herbal Iced Tea

It should go without saying (but we’ll say it anyway) that these herbs and flowers hadn’t been sprayed with any pesticides and were rinsed before using.

Minted Citrus Iced Tea

An hour before serving, place mint leaves, tea bags, and sugar in a saucepan or glass container and pour on boiling water. Let steep for 15 to 20 minutes and strain. Chill tea in refrigerator. To serve, pour tea into a large pitcher, add lemon and orange juices, and serve over ice in tall glasses. Makes 6 servings.

Lavender Peach Iced Tea

Place tea bags, lavender, and honey in a one-quart glass jar and pour on boiling water. Steep for 5 to 10 minutes and stir. Strain into a pitcher and chill until cold. Stir in the peach nectar and serve over ice in tall glasses. Makes about 6 servings.

Iced Tea Granita

Pour boiling water over tea; cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain out tea leaves or tea bags. Add sugar and lemon juice to the tea and stir until sugar is fully dissolved. Refrigerate until cold. Pour mixture into a chilled metal baking pan, place in freezer, and stir every 30 minutes, as ice crystals form, until mixture is a coarse crystalline slush. (Or use an ice-cream maker to achieve this consistency.) If mixture hardens completely, break it into chunks and whirl it in a food processor until slushy. Spoon into wine glasses or punch cups, garnish with a thin slice of lemon if desired, and serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

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