Grilled Bratwurst

Labor Day and football mean peak brat-fry season

Bratwurst tastes great anytime. But in the US, peak brat-fry season starts on Labor Day.

That’s partly because brats make such a great entrée for holiday cookouts. But Labor Day also marks the beginning of football season in the US. Which means tailgating season, where bratwurst is often the star attraction.

What about that “fry” thing in the subtitle, though? Well, no worries. There’s actually no frying involved here, just grilling. (And maybe some pre-simmering).

The term “brat fry” originated in Wisconsin, BTW—where bratwurst is one of the major food groups.

Easy Tandoori Chicken

There’s a Quick Way to Get Restaurant Quality at Home

One of my favorite main-course Indian eats is Tandoori Chicken, a bright red dish with succulent, rich flavor. Traditionally it’s cooked in a tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven that reaches temperatures approaching 900 degrees F. This high heat sears the surface of meat to seal in tasty juices, then quickly cooks everything to tender perfection.

But who has a tandoor at home? And how can you possibly make this dish without a specialized oven?

Well, it’s actually quite easy. You can use an outdoor grill, if you have one. Otherwise, just cook the chicken under your oven’s broiler. True, these methods don’t generate the heat of a tandoor, so it will take a bit longer to cook the chicken. But the flavor of home-cooked is still remarkably good. Maybe not quite tandoor quality, but awfully close.

Best yet, if you use commercial tandoori marinade — a product used in many Indian restaurants — preparation time for this recipe is under 5 minutes. Yet the Tandoori Chicken will be so flavorful, your guests will think you slaved all day over the recipe. I won’t tell if you won’t.

Barbecued Pork Steaks

Finish Summer Right with an Authentic Recipe for this St. Louis Specialty

Where has summer gone? Labor Day is almost here — and for many of us this weekend is the last great cookout opportunity of the year.

The holiday’s best festivities involve firing up the Weber and cooking great slabs of meat. I live in St. Louis, and although St. Louis Cut spare ribs are nationally known, the cut of meat most St. Louisians favor for cookouts is the pork steak.

If you haven’t had these for a while – or worse yet, never had them – Labor Day would be a great time to savor their porky succulence.