Recipes on the Brain

What is the next best thing to drinking delicious beer? Why cooking with it of course. Combining my love of beer and my love of cooking not only provides me with tasty food, but also a better understanding of the flavors that shine through in certain beers.

Today I would like to share with you one of my favorite and easiest recipes I make involving beer:

Slow Cooker Kielbasa in Beer

Ingredients:
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Medium Onion (I prefer red onion to add color)
7 Medium Potatoes (Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes)
1lb Polska Kielbasa (use the best you can find, check your local meat market)
1 Can or Jar of Sauerkraut
Spoonful of Horseradish
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Salt
Beer Ingredient:
2.5 bottles of an Oktoberfest Style Beer (My favorites to use are Paulaner Oktoberfest or Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest; if you don't have access to either, a brown ale will work in a pinch)

Directions:
1. Turn the slow cooker to high. 2. Rough chop the garlic, onions and potatoes and toss them into the slow cooker. 3. Next, cut the Kielbasa into chunks that are about 2 inches long and add to the slow cooker. 4. Then add the horseradish and spices. 5. Finally, add the beer and the sauerkraut and stir.

Let the whole thing cook for about 4-5 hours checking in on it about once an hour to stir and see how it is coming along. If the beer boils down but you are not ready to serve, simply add a little more beer or some water. It is ready to eat when the potatoes are fork tender.

Enjoy with some spicy ground mustard and the rest of the 6 (or 12 if you are up for it) pack.

Links of Interest:
http://www.paulaner.de/home.php
http://www.hacker-pschorr.de/