Saturday, September 13, 2008

Grilled Brats with Maple Glazed Apple and Onion Sandwiches

My favorite football game to watch is really not a football game. It's Lucy Van Pelt, offering to hold the ball for poor Charlie Brown. Somehow she wins his trust with her bossiness, and he approaches the ball with supreme confidence, another triumph of hope over experience. Except, it doesn't play out that way. Lucy always manages to wrest the ball away at the last minute, leaving round-headed Chuck on the ground, wailing "Ugh" to the cruel world. I could watch it a million times. As for real football, I like to watch the big moments only, so if I bring a book or a crossword puzzle and only look up when I hear people shouting. It plays right into my love of multi tasking. I also love to make "football food" in the middle of a televised game. Multi tasking again, but this time in the kitchen, so that makes all the football devotees happy. (Reading books and doing crossword puzzles in the middle of games absolutely does not.) This straddle-the-seasons meal consists of apples, and onions that are brushed with olive oil and maple syrup and grilled alongside some bratwurst sausage, served on a toasty crunchy multi grain baguette, with a squeeze of mustard to score the touchdown. I dedicate this brat sandwich to Lucy Van Pelt, the biggest BRAT of all. Hang onto it tight; it's so good, someone as bratty as Lucy might just wrest it away quicker then old Charlie Brown's football. This one's for Aggies Kitchen's Football event; enter your own or stop by to check out the game food soon. Money Saving Tips: Look for brat sausages on sale at your supermarket. I bought mine for $2.50; and you won't even need the whole package. Any thin baguette will work here. Albertsons's has a great multi grain baguette for $1.59. If you don't have real maple syrup, a glaze of pancake syrup or honey will work well.
Grilled Brats with Maple Glazed Apple and Onion Sandwiches
Estimated Cost: $6.50 for four
4 brat sausages (they usually come in packs of five or six)
1 large onion, sliced into thick rounds
2 granny smith apples, skin on, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds, seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 long thin baguette, toasted and cut into 4 sections
Yellow mustard, for serving
Preheat the grill for medium hot cooking. Place sausages on the grill. Sprinkle onion and apple with salt and pepper. Brush with oil and syrup. If your onions are holding together nicely, place them right on the grill; if not, set them on a piece of tin foil and place on the grill. The apples and onions will grill in about 15 minutes, turning once. The sausages need to be on the grill for about 20 minutes, with one turn. Make sure the sausages are cooked through by slicing into one. Serve the sausages, apples and onions on the toasted baguettes with plenty of mustard.
Coming Tomorrow:
Top 10 Recipes for Late Summer
Stay Tuned for a give away next week.....

27 comments:

Amy said...

Ooooooohhhhh.... these look absolutely mouth watering good!

They sound amazing!! Have to try this next shopping trip to the store... thankyou for the recipe!

Steph said...

Those look delicious! I love the combination of sweet (especially with maple syrup) and salty. Ahhh.. those grill marks.. I can't believe we went through another summer without a BBQ.

gigi said...

Apples and onions! What a yummy combination, southern man loves brats. He would probaly really like this dish. Yea! Lucy was always the biggest brat!

Prudy said...

Gigi, what a great line. I'll have to steal and rewrite my post a little. Silent credit to you.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Oh, how I love grilled brats. And the onions and apples must make them so much better!

Anonymous said...

We have the same style of football watching! I can't just sit and watch a game.. have to have other things to do!

Mary Ann said...

My Hubby would love these. Thanks for a great game day sandwich idea. Thanks for always checking out my blog.

Katie said...

What perfect football food! My family is made up of big Steelers fans, so it's always nice to have tasty game day food.

Beth (jamandcream) said...

Perfect combo. Want a taste!!!

Anonymous said...

You have a mean streak eh Prudy? Poor Charlie Brown! HA! I love Brats on the grill.

Aggie said...

I'm cracking up about Lucy...

These look so awesome! I love grilled brats and I can not wait to try these with apples and onions. Wow, that sounds so good. My husband would be quite pleased eating these while watching a game.

Thanks so much for your entry!

Ali said...

My hubby is a big bratwurst fan...as for me, not so much. Actually, I really don't like them at all!

The football thing sometimes drives me crazy. Just in the past few years my hubby has become a huge UTES fan and he can't get enough football. He does the "fantasy football" thing on the internet and is all about football. I kind of despise football now! lol.

The Blonde Duck said...

That's definately good football watching food! It's so kind of you to bake for all those hungry fans!

Emily said...

Ooo Prudy this sounds perfect for a game day! I LOVE to go to live games but watching it TV is less than thrilling for me! My hub in the other hand is a sports fanatic so we ALWAY have a game one! Brats are sooo yummy! (Especially with apples or sauerkraut!)

Anonymous said...

Oh I love football fare. And I love Lucy Van Pelt, too! I'm a sucker for the peanuts gang. This sandwich looks delicious, even to my delicate, vegetarian sensibilites!

NKP said...

I love the grilled apple, what a great idea!

Marie Rayner said...

Ohh, those look so delicious Erin!!! WE love Brats in this house, any way, any how! Apples and onions, Himmel und Erde, heaven and earth! What a yummo way to go!

Astra Libris said...

Ooooooh, YUM!! Sooooo scrumptious... You just made me want to host a football party Right Now!! :-) (and I'm glad I'm not the only one who multitasks during football games... :-)

RecipeGirl said...

What a perfect *fall* sandwich for football. We often like to tailgate before our Charger's Games and I love bringing the camping burner and cooking up stuff like this!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Those are big juicy boys! So perfect for sport's watching! Apples and onios, that's so german girl!

Lisa magicsprinkles said...

If only the temps would start going down I could so get into fall and all the fab food combos that are part of it. These look great - I have all the ingredients so this may be on the menu tonight despite the weather. Thanks for this simple and classic recipe!

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, so yummy! I love a good sandwich like this! Thanks for making my mouth water!

vanillasugarblog said...

Anyone who personally knows me knows I eat a lot of sausage (i've been trying to curb that and go with better foods). I am always thinking of new things to add to my grilled sausages. With that said your latest here has me drooling mad. I think you are a genius for adding maple syrup to this, a pure genius! What a fabulous combo for sure.
So glad to see another female loving the sausages as much as me (my hubby doesn't like them at all--imagine that huh?)

Cathy said...

There are no words for how much my husband will love these. I think I am going to save this for the day I want him to clean the leaves out of the gutters. Although they would be wonderful on game day, too!

Deanna said...

I had a German boss in high school and he introduced me to brats. Taught me how to cook them and everything. What a wonderful, wonderful man!

grace said...

the fellas in my life would absolutely devour these. in fact, i'm pretty sure these might be the only thing that could divert their attention away from the tv during a football game. :)

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

I came over from the round up: Yes, yes...your brats looks great. I'm cooking my dinner right now, but I couldn't resist stopping by to tell you how tantalizing these are. I'm bookmarking this for the next time the boys come over for football!

Thank you!