Reuben Bratwurst (or Why my Mouf is ’Appy)

 

A few years back, a little fast food place opened here north of Detroit, Michigan. It was called Loaded Links. Basically, it was a high-end hot-dog and circus food place. They had all sorts of options on the menu. For instance, there was the Millionaire’s Dog, which had a Wagyu steak dog with fois gras and truffle sauce. They also had menu items with names like Windy City Dog or New York-Style, etc. I went through trying all of the variations. My wife had been getting the Reuben Dog with a few small alterations. I believe it normally came with an all-beef hot dog, and she would substitute a Polish sausage, instead. She would also get it without pastrami. Now, I thought pastrami was kind of an odd innovation. Corned beef, yes. Pastrami? Eh. So, I didn’t try the Reuben Dog until we had been there at least ten times. And I was very pleasantly surprised. It was without a doubt the best thing on their menu. A week later, I was jonesing for that Reuben Dog. We headed over there, and…they were closed. They had a note saying that they were moving and would be at a new location in the spring. And then CoViD-19 appeared. Loaded Links has not yet reappeared if it will. And I’ve been jonesing for another Reuben Dog.

Oh, I have had Reubens since then. Given my conditions, they have to be naked, no bread. Likewise, Loaded Links had an option to serve the hot dogs in a gluten-free corn tortilla, which is how I had been eating them there. But those naked Reubens weren’t quite the same.

My wife goes shopping on Saturday evenings. She’ll bring back the ingredients so I can cook something up that will last most of the week. Maybe it will be some form of pizza or casserole, a soup or a stew or chili. Yesterday, I suggested having Reuben Dogs this week. There is nothing special about them. They’re easy to make. She suggested using brats instead of normal hot dogs. I was up for that.

So, here it is:

Ingredients (per serving)

1 Brat
1 Hot Dog Bun or Substitute (corn tortilla, lightly fried)
2 T Sauerkraut
1 Slice Swiss Cheese
1 Slice of Pastrami (optional)
Thousand Island Dressing

Preparation

If you are using corn tortillas, start by gently frying them in a bit of butter.

Cook the brats per package directions.

While cooking the brats, preheat the oven to 300º F. Prepare oven-safe serving dish(es) by putting down the buns (or substitutes). Then add the slice of Swiss cheese and pastrami (if used). When the brats are finished, put them into the buns. Add the kraut over the top. Bake at 300º F for fifteen (15) minutes to melt the cheese and heat the other ingredients.

Add Thousand Island dressing to the top and serve.

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There are 24 comments.

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  1. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    [insert sound of Homer vis-a-vis donut]

    • #1
  2. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Arahant: 2 T Sauerkraut

    Need to double that…at least.

    • #2
  3. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    philo (View Comment):

    Arahant: 2 T Sauerkraut

    Need to double that…at least.

    Also, I assume the kraut is chilled. It must not be heated!!!

    • #3
  4. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Arahant: She suggested using brats instead of normal hot dogs.

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    philo (View Comment):

    Arahant: 2 T Sauerkraut

    Need to double that…at least.

    I’m not a big fan of sour. A little bit goes a long way for me. But you can do it as you please.

    • #5
  6. KirkianWanderer Inactive
    KirkianWanderer
    @KirkianWanderer

    Arahant (View Comment):

    philo (View Comment):

    Arahant: 2 T Sauerkraut

    Need to double that…at least.

    I’m not a big fan of sour. A little bit goes a long way for me. But you can do it as you please.

    I always ask for it on the side when I have a Rueben. I like it, but I find that it makes the sandwich soggy and can overpower everything else, especially if someone choses to make it with an insane amount of fennel seeds. I am guilty, when my dad makes kielbasa, of eating them with kimchi if we’re out of sauerkraut, partly just because my mom throws a fit over the smell. (I always buy a one pound glass jar from a Korean brand at my local Vietnamese market, where I did most of my shopping junior and senior years of high school, and she demands that it be wrapped in a plastic bag and put on a separate shelf so it doesn’t “contaminate” everything else in the fridge).

    • #6
  7. KirkianWanderer Inactive
    KirkianWanderer
    @KirkianWanderer

    I can also empathize with the ‘sausage/hot dog longing feeling.’ I haven’t been home in 7 months, and I would murder another human being for two hot dogs from George’s Coney Island in Worcester MA, with mustard, a bag of Wachusett potato chips, and a Polar cranberry soda. A friend promised to take me as soon as I get home.

    • #7
  8. Gary McVey Contributor
    Gary McVey
    @GaryMcVey

    So the Sage of the Great Lakes is also the Chef of the Great Lakes! 

    • #8
  9. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    So the Sage of the Great Lakes is also the Chef of the Great Lakes!

    What better diet than wisdom and good food?

    • #9
  10. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    I fervently hope that Loaded Links makes a comeback. It sounds like a place I would happily drive several hours to try.

    • #10
  11. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    I fervently hope that Loaded Links makes a comeback. It sounds like a place I would happily drive several hours to try.

    Yep. I keep watching, but…

    • #11
  12. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Arahant: Now, I thought pastrami was kind of an odd innovation. Corned beef, yes. Pastrami? Eh.

    We usually make reubens with pastrami instead of corned beef.  I also use either spicy brown mustard or Durkees instead of Thousand Island for my sandwich.  The wife is more traditional . . .

    • #12
  13. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Stad (View Comment):

    Arahant: Now, I thought pastrami was kind of an odd innovation. Corned beef, yes. Pastrami? Eh.

    We usually make reubens with pastrami instead of corned beef. I also use either spicy brown mustard or Durkees instead of Thousand Island for my sandwich. The wife is more traditional . . .

    Finkl’s Deli in the Loop:

    Me: Pastrami, sauerkraut, Russian dressing on a kaiser roll.

    Finkl: Just say “the usual.”

    • #13
  14. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Arahant: She suggested using brats instead of normal hot dogs.

    What brand/flavor of brats are the Arahants partial to?

    Talking about sausage is so much more fun than talking about the demise of the republic!

    • #14
  15. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    KirkianWanderer (View Comment):

    I can also empathize with the ‘sausage/hot dog longing feeling.’ I haven’t been home in 7 months, and I would murder another human being for two hot dogs from George’s Coney Island in Worcester MA, with mustard, a bag of Wachusett potato chips, and a Polar cranberry soda. A friend promised to take me as soon as I get home.

    Hmm.  I’ll have to try that.  Work will have me there for a week or two late in July.

    Assuming they’re open. ):

    • #15
  16. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Stad (View Comment):
    We usually make reubens with pastrami instead of corned beef. I also use either spicy brown mustard or Durkees instead of Thousand Island for my sandwich.

    See, now you’re almost to making a Rachel.

    • #16
  17. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Charlotte (View Comment):
    What brand/flavor of brats are the Arahants partial to?

    My wife likes shopping at a small local market where the choices are limited. In this case, she got some Johnsonville brats. I’m sure that in the future we shall wind up trying them with Kielbasa or some other sausage variation. Personally, I’m starting to wonder about Italian sausage, but that is my favorite. The little local market makes sweet Italian sausages in house.

    Charlotte (View Comment):
    Talking about sausage is so much more fun than talking about the demise of the republic!

    Same t’ing. One way or another, we get back to how the sausage is made.

    • #17
  18. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    I was going to post this in the PIT but it’s relevant here too.

    • #18
  19. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):
    I was going to post this in the PIT but it’s relevant here too.

    Indeed, it is.

    • #19
  20. ShaunaHunt Inactive
    ShaunaHunt
    @ShaunaHunt

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    I was going to post this in the PIT but it’s relevant here too.

    My son needs this. He loves hot dogs. The ones he can tolerate are Nathan’s. Expensive, but delicious! Hot dogs are migraine triggers for us so we have to be picky.

    • #20
  21. KirkianWanderer Inactive
    KirkianWanderer
    @KirkianWanderer

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    KirkianWanderer (View Comment):

    I can also empathize with the ‘sausage/hot dog longing feeling.’ I haven’t been home in 7 months, and I would murder another human being for two hot dogs from George’s Coney Island in Worcester MA, with mustard, a bag of Wachusett potato chips, and a Polar cranberry soda. A friend promised to take me as soon as I get home.

    Hmm. I’ll have to try that. Work will have me there for a week or two late in July.

    Assuming they’re open. ):

    Please do, I know they’re open for take away! It’s a old fashioned diner opened in 1918, where the hot dogs are still something like $1 and cooked on a huge table sized griddle. It was also the first place tiny me learned what strip clubs and scam used car lots are, because it’s right next to both. Honestly, Worcester is kind of crappy and depressing (nearest city to me, I’m from 30 minutes west of it), but there is some great food. Hit up Dalat Restaurant, Pomir Grill, Tandoori Halal Food on Lincoln Street, and The Fix Burger Bar if you have a chance. Maybe we’ll run into each other, I’m coming home on the 27th of July. Whatever you do, stay the hell away from Kelley Square, it’s an 11-way no lights or stop signs intersection!

    • #21
  22. KirkianWanderer Inactive
    KirkianWanderer
    @KirkianWanderer

    KirkianWanderer (View Comment):

    Phil Turmel (View Comment):

    KirkianWanderer (View Comment):

    I can also empathize with the ‘sausage/hot dog longing feeling.’ I haven’t been home in 7 months, and I would murder another human being for two hot dogs from George’s Coney Island in Worcester MA, with mustard, a bag of Wachusett potato chips, and a Polar cranberry soda. A friend promised to take me as soon as I get home.

    Hmm. I’ll have to try that. Work will have me there for a week or two late in July.

    Assuming they’re open. ):

    Please do, I know they’re open for take away! It’s a old fashioned diner opened in 1918, where the hot dogs are still something like $1 and cooked on a huge table sized griddle. It was also the first place tiny me learned what strip clubs and scam used car lots are, because it’s right next to both. Honestly, Worcester is kind of crappy and depressing (nearest city to me, I’m from 30 minutes west of it), but there is some great food. Hit up Dalat Restaurant, Pomir Grill, Tandoori Halal Food on Lincoln Street, and The Fix Burger Bar if you have a chance. Maybe we’ll run into each other, I’m coming home on the 27th of July. Whatever you do, stay the hell away from Kelley Square, it’s an 11-way no lights or stop signs intersection!

    https://www.reddit.com/r/CrappyDesign/comments/6wzngl/i_give_you_kelly_square_worcester_ma_the_11way/

    Last summer I went through this in my teeny tiny 1996 Miata, top down, with my best girl friend and we screamed like we were on a roller coaster the whole way through. If you’re from Central Western MA, it is a thing that you learn to fear. Often the first time you hear your parents swear in the car as well.

    • #22
  23. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    • #23
  24. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    KirkianWanderer (View Comment):
    Maybe we’ll run into each other, I’m coming home on the 27th of July. Whatever you do, stay the hell away from Kelley Square, it’s an 11-way no lights or stop signs intersection!

    Sounds like an excuse for a Meetup.  (:

    And quite possible.  I’m certain to be there through the 24th, and my client is considering adding another week.

    Oh, and I haven’t noticed Kelley Square–I spend my time around UMass Med.

    • #24
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