The Fest of October

Another cooking adventure to fulfill my weekly newness. But this time I strayed from the diabetic-inducing treats and opted to try a new dinner meal.

A coworker told me he and his wife make a lot of recipes from the Whole Foods website. While I don't do a ton of shopping there (because honestly, who can afford it?) I do enjoy the experience and philosophy quite a bit. I directed my browser to the site and found a recipe for One-Pot Oktoberfest. As it was the last week of the October, I most obviously had to try it out.

The results were tasty, even if the presentation does look about as appetizing as a bowl of your cat's hacked up hairballs. (You're welcome for that visual.)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1, 12 oz package cooked bratwurst, cut into 2-inch chunks (The original recipe calls for a Whole Foods brand, The Original Brat Hans Original Bratwurst. That's a lot of original. Point is, I didn't use it.)

1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided

2 teaspoons dried dill, divided

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (You know, because it's really easy to measure out pepper as you're grinding it. Eyeball it, dummy.)

1 yellow onion, chopped (Make sure it's fairly small, otherwise don't use the whole thing. Use your judgment and don't blame me if your breath stinks for years after eating it.)

1 pound fresh button mushrooms, quartered

3 tablespoons light sour cream

3 tablespoons German mustard (I just used spicy.)

1, 32 oz. jar sauerkraut, rinsed and drained (I drained it really well but didn't rinse. Gasp!)

Directions

1. Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook 'til browned, about 5 minuten. (German for "minutes." Thought it was only apprope.)

2. Add 1/4 cup broth, 1 teaspoon dill, pepper and onion ... cook until onions are softened and golden, 6-8 minuten. (Deal with it.)

3. Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms and cook until they've released their juices, about 5 minuten more. (Ok, so when you're quartering the pound of mushrooms, it's going to seem like a whole lotta fungi. It is. But they reduce significantly in size during the cooking process. I didn't quite use the whole pound and it was ok, but would have been fine with all of them! I was just worried it was going to be fungaliciouis and that would have not made J a fun-guy. Bahahaha.)

4. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 cup broth, sour cream and mustard. Add this mixture to the pot, along with the sauerkraut ... bring it all to a boil, baby. (But don't boil a baby. Yikes!)

5. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until "fragrant and thickened" about 10 minuten - yep, I'm still at it - more. (I'm pretty sure sauerkraut is fragrant even before you open the can. Peeeeee Yeeeeew. I love it, though.)

6. Sprinkle with remaining dill and serve.

Warning: this recipe makes a lot.

The first time we ate it, I served it with mashed potatoes. For the leftovers later in the week, I boiled up some egg noods. While both were good, the mashers were much tastier. And since the recipe isn't all that bad nutritionally-speaking, I think it's ok to add some carbs/starch in there. Just my humble, chunky opinion.

(Whole Foods cites the following nutritional info for this six-serving recipe. "Per serving (about 13oz/367g-wt.): 240 calories (150 from fat), 17g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 45mg cholesterol, sodium difficult to determine due to rinsing of sauerkraut, 11g total carbohydrates (6g fiber, 8g sugar), 10g protein")