Looking at veal sausage: Opa's Bratwurst

Being perfectly honest, I'm probably not the best person to critique this sausage. Opa's, a sausage maker in Fredericksburg, Texas, makes a variety of great sausages.

Bratwurst, however, is made with veal and pork. Veal is one of those meats that pushes my limits - both in taste and on some gut moral level. I'm a meat-eater, but baby calf conjures images of a life unfulfilled.

I don't really get the effect on me personally. Blame it on PETA? I've never had a problem eating cabrito (baby goat). I've even gone on the ranch and slaughtered my own cabrito. But male dairy calves going to slaughter is somehow a stretch. 

Then there's the taste. Veal has a distinctively bland dairy taste. It's like "uncured" meat, if that makes any sense. I assume this is because the calves primarily depend on mother's milk? Whatever the reason, it's noticeable. 

And on that unappetizing note, I get in the kitchen!

Opa's Bratwurst

I tried two dishes, using the same rice with vegetables as a side. the rice was boiled with chopped chipotle pepper. It was white rice, but the chipotle gave it color. And I threw in some frozen peas and carrots and a pinch of salt.

Both dishes are really simple. The first one involved a fresh, ripe avocado, which is cut into sections and symmetrically laid to either side of a grilled bratwurst. This is laid atop a quesadilla (two toasted corn torillas filled with cheddar cheese; it's like a grilled cheese sandwich but fewer carbs).

It was ok, but bratwurst wasn't the best choice for a sausage for these ingredients. A regular all-beef sausage would have worked better. 

For my next dish, I tried going with something more traditional. I took a slice of multigrain bread and put it on the grill with the brat and some poblano pepper strips.

I heated up sauerkraut. Lay the bread on the plate, add mustard, lay on the brat and smother that with sauerkraut. 

The poblano goes with the rice side dish. Going for taste points, I found this worked much better. Bratwurst is meant to go with bread and suaerkraut. I don't think you can get away from that. Putting a rice and veggie dish on the side is about as adventurous as you can get.

I've always seen brats in a bun with mustard and sauerkraut. If there was a side, it was usually German potato salad, but I'm trying to stay away from potatoes - that's a carb load too far. 

Bratwurst on bread with mustard, sauerkraut.

 Buen provecho!