This is about as simple as recipes come but I guarantee you will come close to finishing off an entire bowl by yourself (I speak from experience).

I will eat sauerkraut out of a can so this recipe is right up my alley.  I never knew these even existed until looking for a different recipe recently.  Many European countries lay claim to some form of this recipe.  Wherever they started, I'll be enjoying these soon.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped cooked ham
• 1 cup finely chopped corned beef
• 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sauerkraut, drained and minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup beef broth
•  
• 1 egg
• 2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 cups fine dry bread crumbs
• 1 quart oil for frying

This is the long, around the block description for making them...

1. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Stir in ham, corned beef and garlic. Cook mixture, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Stir in 6 tablespoons flour and cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in sauerkraut, parsley, and broth; cook for 3 minutes or until thickened and paste-like. Spread mixture on a platter and chill for at least 3 hours.
3. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and 2 1/2 cups flour. Shape the sauerkraut mixture by level teaspoons in to balls, dip them into the egg mixture and roll them in the bread crumbs.
4. Fry balls in batches for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve warm.

Recipe courtesy allrecipes.com

I'll start by saying that I've tried them and am not a fan but they seem to be huge down south.  I had some in North Carolina, it was my first and most likely last time.  For those that are interested, here is a simple recipe:

• 5 pounds raw peanuts (still in the shells obviously)
• 1 cup salt
• water to cover

Start by boiling them for about 2-3 hours.  You can continue to boil and add salt until you get the flavor and consistency you want.  You can also add other ingredients like garlic, dried peppers, etc to give a little more kick. 

I decided to mix things up a little yesterday and tried a couple of new things including an experiment with some pueblo green chile we had in the freezer.  Typically every year we purchase a couple bushels of green chile and use it in a lot of what we cook.  If you have never tried it by the way, you are missing out.  Forget the canned, store-bought crap...this is the ONLY way to go with green chile.

What I decided would be good were some burgers with green chile on them.  Sounds simple but oh baby, they were fantastic!  2 other things I did that deviated from my normal grilling routines were that I used a burger press (wifey got it for me, and I have to admit it was great) and I cooked on a cast iron skillet on the grill to get a more even and uncharred coat to the meat.  I may not do that all of the time but it worked out very well and was great practice for campfire cooking.

To prep the chiles all that I did was take them from their unthawed form...

 to a chopped up form...

I did not chop them very fine, I wanted the chunks and I purposely lest the seeds in which in my opinion give the chile a nice kick and flavor.  Of course, the stems were removed.

After heating up the coals and letting the cast iron heat up a good bit I slapped the burgers on.  As you can see the press made some rings and what that does is prevents the burgers from plumping up, which was very nice actually.  I did nothing to the meat other than season with some salt and pepper on the grill.  Also notice I had not begun cooking the chiles yet either.

Once I flipped the burgers I put the chopped up green chili into the other skillet.  This is essentially "refrying" the chiles as when you purchase them, they roast them in huge roasters on the spot and you get them hot and fresh.  Again if you have never done that, you really should...the smell from them roasting at the places that sell the chiles is fantastic.  I seasoned the chile with some garlic powder, garlic salt and a dash of salt and pepper.  I did not use a specific amount, I would suggest doing it all to taste.  Let the chile cook with the spices, mixing and stirring frequently to prevent any burning on the skillet until the burgers are almost ready to rock.

    

After the burgers were nearly done, I put a slice of cheese (I used sharp cheddar, yum) on them and let it melt just a touch before topping the cheese with the refried chile mixture.  Plate, serve and enjoy. I should also note that toasted buns really made for a nice touch with this and I put no condiments on mine other than a little mayo on the bun itself.  Let me tell you kids, they were amazing.

I know, I know.  The name sucks.  I cannot think of what else to call them since whenever my wife talks about them she says "you have to try Mike's burgers" or "will you make your burgers?".

Before I go on I am going to warn you, eating these on a regular basis probably will give you a heart condition or a really large ass...probably both.

The measurements are up to you, but here is what I do.  First I chop up some steak into little cubes, in my case I used a sirloin steak.  After that I marinate the steak cubes.  In my case, I used a homemade BBQ sauce but A1 works great as well as anything you favor for a marinade.

Next, I took some...wait for it...bacon and chopped it up as well.  Seriously, who doesn't like bacon?

It is almost a sin how good they come out, melty bacony steaky cheesey goodness.  Enjoy!

I was thinking of grilling some brats tonight and was wondering how I could jazz them up a little.  Then I realized, bacon makes everything better.  And so it was, tonight I decided to wrap my cheddar brats in bacon and toss them on the trusty Weber.

What happened later cannot be described, other than to say that I almost got sick because I couldn't stop eating.

The happy couple before their magical union...

The bacon I had was the perfect length, it wrapped around the entire brat...

It was just recently I found out about Johnsonville Bratwurst Patties and knew I had to try these.

Tonight I finally got a chance to slap these bad boys on the grill to see how they tasted (like there was any bit of doubt).  It hit me as the grill was warming up that I should really give these beauties the sandwich they deserved so I trekked back to the fridge to see how I could make this even better. Lucky for me (and not for my arteries), I found some smoked gouda from a recent gathering and smoked sausage (always on hand) in the drawer.

(Side note-I did try the patties on their own and seriously have to wonder why these weren't invented sooner).

I needed some sort of spread for the wheat buns so back to the fridge for condiment recon.  The first thing that caught my eye was the bottle of chipotle hot sauce that gets used like ketchup around here.  Mix that with some mayo and you have yourself a nice spicy spread (add hot sauce to taste but be careful if you don't like a lot of heat).

Here is how it all turned out...

Smother both buns with the mayo and layer the cheese between the different meats.  Let it sit for a few minutes and the cheese will melt over the sandwich.

Yes you read that right.

The good folks over at Johnsonville have taken two already great things and combined them into something bordering on heavenly. 

I have to admit that I wasn't aware of these until I saw a recipe on Tailgating Times (a great website for tailgating).  There are a few recipes on the Johnsonville website but click the link above to see their creation.  It is a double patty with smoked gouda, sauerkraut and mustard.  I will definitely be taking this for a test drive this weekend...reviews to follow.