Grilling Peaches and Brats, with Sage Roasted Potatoes

My belly was very happy after a recent meal.  Here's how it happened:

During a conference call I'd downloaded a ton of recipes from a batch of 30 scallop recipes.  We'd made one and it was good.  I had more scallops frozen.  And, I'd not thought about the next few evenings dinners before that day so I kind of figured we'd try the scallops with chestnut sauce and maybe do tilapia sandwiches.  Not planning a meal ahead is rare for me.  I usually have all our meals planned out a week ahead.  During the same conference call I'd also downloaded one called Milwaukee dogs.  Brats with sauerkraut, Dijon mustard and Swiss cheese. 

Then, fate interfered.  My internet at my Greenwood office has always been lousy.  On cloudy days the modem just doesn't work well.  I'd left my modem in my Columbus office so figured I'd use my phone as a tether.  Well, that only works if you actually have a card to support it in your computer.  So, instead of spending the whole day in Greenwood, I did one meeting in there and drove back to Indy and did the rest via GoToMeeting.  And, I called Connie and said, "Please solve this problem permanently."  That meant that the next day he was in Greenwood with the folks to hook up real internet.  It also meant that he was going to be near Claus' Haus - the German meat market.  My mind immediately went to the Milwaukee dogs when he called and suggested that on the way home he'd stop and pick up anything I'd like.  I'd like brats, please. 

Now, on top of the brats, our friends Raquel and Steve had brought over some potatoes from their garden.  Amazing potatoes.  Lovely little reds.  Creamy.  Perfect.  I'd found a recipe on the New York Times website for sage roasted potatoes.  Connie adores fried sage.  I adore potatoes.  We were in business!

And, the peach truck had been here.  I'd texted my brother John to let him know that we were planning on heading there that afternoon.  He texted back that he was in line and was going to get me some.  I asked for a box since our friends Deb and Ken wanted to split a box.  Does John rock or what???? 

We had the makings of a perfect dinner.  Milwaukee dogs.  Sage roasted potatoes.  Grilled peaches with blue cheese and honey.  Connie tried the brats first.  YUM!  Then, he tried the potatoes.  WOW!  Now, since he's not fond of fruit, he saved the peaches for last.  His eyes pretty much rolled back into his head.  "Pretty good, huh," I said.  "That's an understatement," he said.  Then, he asked me to rate them.  First place went to the peaches.  Second to the potatoes.  Third to the brats.  But, seriously, if I had 100 points to distribute, they'd all be getting about 33!  He tried to cheat the system and give the peaches a 7 on a scale of 1-5.  LOL.

Here's a photo of the peaches, brats and buns coming off the grill:

Now, on to the recipes.

Milwaukee Dogs

Ingredients:

brats
Swiss cheese
sauerkraut
Dijon mustard
buns

Directions:

Heat the sauerkraut.  Grill the brats.  Just as they get done, slice them in half, move them to the cool side of the grill and put slices of Swiss cheese on them.  Toast the buns.  Schmear with Dijon.  Put the brats on the buns, top with sauerkraut and top with the other half.

Adapted from the Betty Crocker

Peaches with Blue Cheese and Honey

Ingredients:

peaches
blue cheese
honey

Directions:

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.  Grill cut side down until softened.  Flip and put a knob of blue cheese in each cavity.  Grill until the blue cheese melts.  Remove from the grill and plate.  Drizzle with honey.



Roasted Potatoes with Sage

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, cut in half
1/3 c flour
1 1/2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced (I accidentally omitted this)
1/4 c chopped fresh sage leaves
1 T unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
12 fresh sage leaves
1 T unsalted butter

Directions:

Put a large cast iron skillet in your oven.  Preheat your oven to 450F.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. 

Put them in a saucepan of cold, salted water.  Put the saucepan on high heat and bring the water to a boil.  As soon as the water boils, lower the heat and simmer the potatoes for five minutes.  Drain them and pat them dry. Sprinkle the flour on a plate and roll the potatoes in it.  Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and pour in the olive oil, making sure to cover the entire bottom of the skillet.  Lay the potatoes in the skillet cut side down. 

Roast them for 10 minutes.  Remove the skillet from the oven and flip the potatoes.  It was at this point that I added the chopped sage leaves and forgot about the garlic.  You do NOT want to put the garlic now but you can add the chopped sage.  Roast another ten minutes. 

While the potatoes are finishing up in the oven, you need to fry the sage leaves.  Put a tablespoon of butter in a very shallow skillet (an omelet pan works well) and let it melt and get bubbly and hot.  Add the sage leaves in one layer.  When the first side is a bit brown, flip them.  They're easy to overcook so keep a good eye on them. 

When you remove the skillet from the oven, quickly add the last tablespoon of butter and the garlic.  Serve the potatoes topped with the sage leaves.

Adapted from the New York Times