May 29 2014
I wanted a recipe to use some of my homemade kraut with. I found the perfect one by Kukla at food52.com. It was beer braised meatballs over quick sauerkraut. There was a photo of it used to make a sandwich and it looked delicious! Food 52 is my favorite site for recipes and ideas I can adapt to my pellet smoker cooking. There are some great cooks there.
Kukla used a mix of beef chuck and veal for her meatballs and I used beef chuck and pork steak. It was a beautiful day to cook out and I enjoyed taking my time with the cooking and having some good beer! It’s always fun to try a new recipe for the first time.
About noon I got all my ingredients ready for the meatballs, ran it through my grinder using the coarse blade. I just made half of her recipe and it made 12 meatballs. I placed them in the fridge until I was ready to cook.
I cleaned out my smoker, put a new layer of foil on the drip pan and filled the pellet bin. I mixed up the mustard sauce and I had an hour and a half to enjoy the day before firing up the smoker to cook.
Kukla used a good Belgium lager beer and I used a Yuengling Hoppin Helles, a Germen Helles style beer in my cooking steps.
At 4:00 I put the meatballs on smoke, 170 to 180 deg. F for an hour and then went to 250 deg. grill level temp. They would cook another hour so I had plenty of time to get my ingredients ready and do the kraut. I used a half head of cabbage and about a pint of my kraut and only used a tablespoon of the vinegar. The carrot I sliced with a veggie peeler and then cut about 1 inch long. I toasted some mustard seeds and then added the olive oil, carrots, onions and mushrooms and sautéed until soft. I added the cabbage and covered for about 10 minutes on low heat. I uncovered and added in my brown sugar and vinegar and cooked a while then added in the kraut.
In between cooking the kraut at 1 hour 15 minutes I placed the meatballs in a cast iron skillet and back on the smoker at 325 deg. After 20 minutes I added the beer and lowered the temp to 180 deg. I went in and added the beer to the kraut and let it and the meatballs all get happy until 6:00 and served it all up.
I served the wife and I both 3 meatballs topped with the sauce over the kraut. We had some Italian bread and butter with it. We both loved this dish! I used Dusseldorf mustard in the sauce and it is on the mild side; for me it could have been spicier or some added horseradish would kick it up some. My wife liked the sauce the way it was. This is definitely a keeper recipe for us and if I don’t have any of my kraut on hand I know it will be good per Kukla’s recipe. Thanks Kukla for a great recipe and permission to repost it!
Mustard seeds and coriander
Meatball ingredients
Making the meatballs
For the sauce
For the kraut
After one hour on smoke
Onions, carrots, mushrooms and mustard seeds sautéing
Cabbage added
Meatballs getting happy!
My supper
Smokin Don
Kukla's Recipe
Beer braised meatballs w/kraut by Kukla
For the Meatballs (makes 16 about 1 1/2- ounces meatballs)
• • 2 slices white bread, crust removed
• • 3/4 cup beer, divided
• • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• • 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• • 1 pound beef chuck, cut in bite-size cubes
• • 1 pound veal, cut in bite-size cubes
• • 2 large egg yolks
• • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• • 1/2 teaspoon dried coriander + 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, toasted and grinded together
1. Tear the bread into pieces; place in a small mixing bowl and cover with 1/4 cup beer. Set aside.
2. In a 12-inch sauté pan over medium-low heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and garlic; add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook until the onions and garlic are just soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
4. Run the meat cubes, bread and beer mixture, sautéed onion and garlic through a meat grinder to a large bowl. Add egg yolks lightly beaten with 1/4 cup of beer, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, black pepper, coriander-mustard mixture. Lightly mix until well combined. Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds.
5. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs (in two batches) and sauté until golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.
6. When all the meatballs are sautéed, nestle them in one layer in the same sauté pan, pour 1/4 cup of beer into the pan, cover with a lid and braise until they absorbed almost all of the liquid, about 20 minutes.
7. Remove the meatballs to an ovenproof dish using a slotted spoon and place in the warmed oven.
For the Mustard Sauce and Easy Sauerkraut
• Mustard Sauce:
• • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• • 2 tablespoons Spicy Brown or Dijon mustard
• • 1 tablespoon honey or to your taste
• • 2 tablespoons beer
• • Pinch salt
• For the Easy Sauerkraut:
• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
• • 1/2 of onion, thinly sliced
• • 1 medium carrot, shredded
• • 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, toasted
• • 1 packed tablespoon brown sugar
• • About 3/4 to 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms of your choice (optional)
• • 1 small head (about 10 oz) green cabbage, shredded
• • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• • 1/2 cup beer
• • 1/3 cup cider vinegar
1. To make the Mustard Sauce: Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small bowl and set the sauce aside.
2. To make the Easy Sauerkraut: Add the oil to a large skillet over medium heat; add onion, carrots and mushrooms (if using); sauté until softened and slightly browned. Add salt and brown sugar; drop in the cabbage and sauté for a few minutes until the greens have slightly wilted. Add the beer and cider vinegar to the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced completely and cabbage is tender but still has a slight crunch.
3. To serve: Place the Sauerkraut in the bottom of serving plates; then arrange 2-3 meatballs on top; drizzle with Mustard sauce and serve.
4. If you like to make sandwiches, slice open each roll lengthwise, lightly butter and toast them. Stuff each with the meatballs; top with some sauerkraut, drizzle with the mustard sauce and serve.
