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Rural Foodies at home: Our wurst idea turns out to be our best.
by Betty Sayers and Pam Soreide
The thing that motivates the Rural Foodies — well, foodies in general, I suppose — is a love of food in all its astonishing variety. We’re always up for new things, for interesting tastes, for cuisines we haven’t tried as well as for excellent preparations of foods we know by heart.
When we lived in the Big City, variety was easy. Greek, Mediterranean, Italian, Thai, Japanese and all sorts of other restaurants were within a reasonable distance and we enjoyed them all with great abandon. In rural Nebraska, a foodie has to work a little harder to satisfy his/her cravings...but it can be done.
If you’re a regular reader, you know we are willing to travel quite a ways for an interesting food experience, but we also know that sometimes the best restaurant in town is right in your own home. Cooking at home is creative, relaxing, and a lovely way to entertain. Finding something new and unusual to serve is what makes it challenging...and fun.
Our wurst idea.
For quite awhile, we’ve been wanting to do a “sausage tasting” with sausages from the Wurst Haus in Eustis. See our article on the Wurst Haus here. Proprietor Gregg Wolf has been hand-making summer sausage, brats, Polish sausage, hot dogs, and beef jerky at H&J Grocery and Wurst Haus since he bought the business from his father in 1985. The sausage-making business has been part of the Wolf family since 1900, and the recipes and methods Gregg Wolf still uses accompanied the Wolf family when they immigrated from Germany to Eustis. Wolf’s grandfather started the grocery business in Eustis, and his father bought the grocery store from his father in 1970.
Over the Internet, we ordered the wieners, Polish sausages and bratwurst, as well as a summer sausage for an appetizer. To complement the sausages, round out the meal, and stick with our rural Nebraska theme, we browsed the offerings of the GROW Nebraska Website, adding a cornbread mix, pickled asparagus and peppers, an orange salad dressing and a variety of sauces. For beverages, we chose a Third Stone Brown Ale, brewed in Lincoln, and a bottle of Edelweiss white wine from the Mac’s Creek Vineyards and Winery near Lexington.
Our plan goes awry.
Our idea had been to do a picnic-season preview for our readers, and we had visions of dining al fresco with the sun shining and the birds twittering in the branches above. But it was April and this is Nebraska. It was not to be...but who’s complaining?
When we arrived, brushing the snow from our shoulders, the house had the unmistakable aroma of Polish sausages simmering in beer. The bratwurst were snuggled in with sauerkraut and baked, and the wieners ready to grill. We unpacked the cornbread, baked beans, and sautéed red, green and yellow peppers with onion, opened a bottle of ale and went into the living room to greet out-of-town family come for a visit.
The Wurst Haus summer sausage was arranged on a plate with simple crackers for an appropriate appetizer. If your idea of summer sausage is the mass-produced commercial sausages you get in the grocery store, you’ll find Wurst Haus summer sausage a real treat — lean, well-seasoned, moist and flavorful.
We found the ale to be very pleasant indeed, smooth and nutty and something like a Newcastle ale. No need for Nebraska to hang its head in the beer world. The award-winning Mac's Creek Edelweiss was fruity and semi-sweet, for those who preferred a lighter beverage.
We meet the meat.
When the wieners came off the grill, we all filed into the kitchen to fill our plates. Since this was supposed to be a sausage tasting, we decided to cut the sausages up so we could taste all three and compare and contrast the flavors.
The Polish sausage was spicy, but in a good way. It left a pleasant afterburn to cool with the ale. The bratwurst, was somewhat less highly seasoned, but still very flavorful, compared to your national brands. The wieners were just as plump and meaty as the other sausages, but far the most kid-friendly choice. There were buns with sautéed peppers and onions, baked beans, potatoes and salad to balance out the meal, but the focus was clearly on the meats and condiments.
Here’s what we found: these sausages are about as close to the big brand name sausages you find in the Wal-Mart as my mom’s chocolate cake is to a day-old Ding Dong. We found them all to be spicy, juicy and delicious.
Compliments for the condiments.
We had to save a few bites to try out with the condiments we’d gotten from GROW Nebraska. We were pleasantly impressed with JB's Fatboy Haugwash Barbeque Sauce which added a touch of smoky sweetness to each bite, but the Herbal Gatherings Hot Mustard from the South Side is what really got our attention — a delightful, spicy mustard, with interesting, complex flavors.
We’ll admit to being a bit suspicious of the Ely Farms Pickled Asparagus, fearing squishy asparagus, but we were completely off base – the asparagus we found was crisp, briny and tasty, and we all agreed that their Pickled Bell Peppers were likewise an unexpected treat.
Jane Dudek's Corn Bread Mix made up into tender, slightly sweet corn muffins that everyone seemed to enjoy. With all this rich, spicy food, a refreshing salad made with Sharon's Orange Salad Dressing by Elyria Canning Company was a most welcome addition.
After dinner, tea was accompanied by small bites of mint brownies, pecan pie bars and lemon cheesecake squares repurposed from a recent party. Just the way to end a meal.
We like to eat.
As we leaned back in our chairs, groaning and overfull, we chewed over (forgive the expression) the different aspects of our meal, noting our favorites and the – all very minor – disappointments.
One of the things we learned from the experience is that living rural doesn’t have to be a barrier to eating well. In fact, in another month or so, when our farmer’s market get’s underway, we expect to be eating better than most city folks, most of the time. But in the meantime, the Internet puts an incredible wealth of culinary opportunity as close as your mouse.
We always say, if you like to eat, you can do it just as well – and sometimes better – in the country.
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