Even Brauts Like to be Grass-Fed

Who doesn't love a brautwurst every now and again? When I saw that my favorite grass-fed beef guy of Olsen Farms was selling them, I knew I must have some. They came already frozen which is great since I can race through all of the other perishables first and then pull them out of the freezer when the larder is empty. And that is exactly what I did the other night. But you can't have brauts without kraut, right? So first I picked up a lovely jar of very Jewish and very Brooklyn sauerkraut to go along with it. It felt a bit counterintuitive to accompany such a local ingredient with something made 3000 miles away, but hey, what the hell? It all made for a simple but delicious Monday night dinner.

Having previously praised both the philosophy and the flavor of grass-fed beef, I was eager to try how it tasted once it had been turned into something else altogether. Besides the selfish reasons of flavor and an easy dinner, I also felt like I was kind of doing my part. You know, for the team--for the environment. After all, if they didn't turn all of those beef scraps into sausage, what else would they do with them? Isn't this the original recycling? Anyway, my environmental conscience aside, the brauts were great. I seared them first and immediately noticed that they were missing any of the normal fat and grease oozing from within. The pan was completely dry and lacking any juices whatsoever. Was this a good thing? I wasn't sure. After I got sick of them smoking so much in the pan, I dumped in the strained sauerkraut and a touch of water, then covered the whole mess and let it cook until we were ready.

The missing juices didn't seem to have any negative affect on the flavor. I'm assuming then, that we were eating a much healthier braut than your average grocery store variety. It makes sense that the leaner grass-fed beef would produce a leaner, more healthy brautwurst. So that's good and all, but it actually tasted great as well. Full of flavor and spices with a firm but tender texture. Further proof that happy cows make happy food.
Another word on the kraut. Upon further reflection, I think that I have been incorrectly using the term "sauerkraut". The jar of Ba-Tampte brand that I bought at my local market is actually called "new kraut" and this enigmatic product seems to be a kosher mystery. Even the web-site is ridiculously vague, with nothing but images of their products! All we can figure is that "new kraut" is well, newer and has been aged less than traditional sauerkraut. Therefore, it is less sour and is more mild. We instinctively knew this when we were eating it, and we both commented on how it tasted a bit sweet and had less bite than normal. The texture was also more firm, with a more pronounced raw cabbage consistency. It wasn't until I looked at the jar later that I realized that these differences were on actually on purpose!