Weisswurst, blaukraut, and potatoes… oh my!
We frequently drive up route 47 to visit family in the Chicago suburbs and pass through a little town called Gibson City about 45 minutes away from C-U. My wife loves German food, especially sauerkraut and sausages. After hearing reviews, seeing pictures, and looking at their menu online, we finally stopped in to Bayern Stube. If you’ve never been there, you’re missing out. The experience of the restaurant, with the waitresses dressed in Bavarian outfits, taxidermy-covered walls, and good German beer served in large one-liter mugs, should not be missed. The food is very good, and portions are large, but you don’t have to take my word for it.
If you’re not up for the drive or the prices, I haven’t found any good options in town to get good wurst. Your best bet is to make it yourself. The hardest part about recreating a meal like this is getting the right sausage. You can really use just about any sausage you like, as long as it’s not too spicy. I really like going to the U of I Meat Salesroom. In addition to pork, lamb, and beef cuts, they make a wide range of sausages from the pigs they raise. Their bacon is also very good. They sometimes make varieties of sausage that you won’t find anywhere else in the area, like weisswurst or mushroom and swiss brats.
One of my favorite parts of the meal at Bayern Stube was the braised red cabbage or blaukraut in German. The sausages can’t help but be delicious, the starch could be any manner of things, but the cabbage is vital to the meal. Not only does it the only really colorful element, but the sweetness of the cabbage and acid note of the vinegar bring the plate together.
You’ll want to decide on your starch beforehand. I went with potatoes that I boiled until done, then crisped them in a pan with a little bit of Triple S Farm lard I found at Common Ground. Other good options would be spaetzle, potato pancakes, or simple mashed potatoes. The weisswurst is a juicy but lean sausage, so you can afford to use a little extra butter (or lard, or your fat of choice) in this part of the meal.
The weisswurst that the U of I Meat Salesroom makes is pre-cooked, so all you need to do is gently heat them in water. Because of its delicate flavor, this is not a great grilling sausage. Simply cover them with water and heat until the water is barely simmering. Hold that temperature for about 5 minutes to heat them thoroughly, then kill the heat and leave them in the water to stay warm. You should do this while the cabbage is cooking. You could serve a couple of these links to each diner, but I’d recommend serving a couple different types of sausage. Perhaps offer a contrast to the weisswurst with some of the smoked bratwurst.
Braised Red Cabbage
- 3T oil, lard, or bacon drippings
- 1 onion, chopped (red would be nice)
- 2 cloves
- pinch of caraway seed (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 head red cabbage, quartered, cored, and shredded
- 1 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 c water
- 2T red wine vinegar
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, until it becomes translucent.
- Add the cloves, bay leaves, and caraway (if using), stir for 30 seconds until they release their fragrance.
- Add the shredded cabbage, the salt, and the water.
- Reduce the heat to medium low and cook slowly, stirring, as the cabbage wilts, about 10-15 minutes.
- Eventually the cabbage will all be uniformly wilted. Add the vinegar, and continue cooking for another 15-25 minutes or until you reach the desired tenderness.
- Once the cabbage is as soft as you’d like, taste and season with salt, black pepper, and more vinegar, to taste.
Most Recent Food Comments
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
“more beer is drank” Awesome. Way to go “editors.“
You left out the best part—you have to REMEMBER your number after the beer chugging! Yeah, I’m a member.
Great article, man. Like you, I didn’t really know Daniel all that well, but I felt the impact of his death. I too was inspired by him and it pleases me to see that he continues to live on in the spirit of the community.
Thanks you guys…I love living in a community that can connect, share, and create through food. It’s inspiring…
<div> A beautiful recap of the evening and thank you for sharing why you find what the Fund is doing is inspiring. I haven’t been able to write too much about my feelings about the community’s loss of Dan yet either, but Dan has also inspired me…
Seth and Justine, thanks so much! Through your writing and your photos, everyone can get at least a taste of what was served up Sunday night. Dan would very much have liked that! As you say, our community is very much “fertile ground,“ and Dan had such…
That is perhaps the best article you have ever written… a love letter to Champaign-Urbana and the people who call it home.
Most Popular Food Articles (60 days)
- The man that was and will always be Flatlander Chocolate
- Taking the work out of pasta sauce
- Time to make the dream a reality
- Flatlander fundraising off to a tasty start
- Learning to dislike corn
- The green of all greens
- Market Watch: July 31, 2010
- Market Watch: July 17, 2010
- Market Watch: August 6, 2010
- Market Watch: July 10
Most Recent Comments
Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win.
Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is. But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…
Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…
I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get. I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library. None of those activities…
These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…
(speaking as a Savoy resident) By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc. This is how library systems work. The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…
I read Timbo’s argument. I think the key word is “speculating.“
I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?
Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…
And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.
The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.
Curtis Orchard is always good for an hour or three, especially if you have rugrats.
What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…
Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.
Thanks for the article, Ben. I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar. A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…
Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…
@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.
Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.
good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…
Most Popular Articles (14 days)
- Camp Rantoul Report: August 20, 2010
- Withershins: the hardest working band in Champaign
- Champaign to close recycling drop-off center
- Pygmalion schedule changes, Emeralds and new Erin Fein project added
- The Burlington Coat Factory Mosque
- Meet the new blog on the block
- CU Pride Fest review
- Flatlander fundraising off to a tasty start
- The right thing changes from state to state
- Garbage doesn’t just “go away”
Recent Searches
- 1592 (7 Results)
- Susan Toalson (3 Results)
- Gabe (4 Results)
- Bond (97 Results)
- Bond (97 Results)
- Gabe (4 Results)
- bond (97 Results)
- bond (97 Results)
- dan schreiber (34 Results)
- gillespie (129 Results)
- Men Against Sexual Violence MASV (1 Results)
- 8684 (1 Results)
- Men Against Sexual Violence MASV (1 Results)
- great cover up doug hoepker (13 Results)
- great cover up (589 Results)
- C-U Circle (32 Results)
- 4130 (1 Results)
- elsinore (123 Results)
- elsinore (123 Results)
- ryan groff elsinore (35 Results)
Facebook
Twitter
Full Site
Events Calendar
I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…