Kraut burgers?

Erick Erickson Editor of Red State Morning Briefing and radio talk show host, recently said it best, "There is more to life than politics!" Grannie Annie at our house agrees so when she gets filled to the gag response level, she mans the clicker and switches TV to the food channel.

Recently we happened to catch an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri, the somewhat overweight chef who obviously relishes good food. Guy tours the country in his red convertible searching out the best in diners and less-than-gourmet local-flavored restaurants. The selection of the evening was the Lauer-Krauts eating emporium in Brighton, Colorado.

The epicurean delight from their menu was what they called the "Kraut Burger." The chef takes a fair-sized square of rolled out bread dough and a mixture of sauerkraut, crumbled hamburger and secret spices is ladled into the center. The sides of the dough are lifted and pressed together to seal. Into the oven to bake a golden brown and unto the customer's plate.

Gee it all sounded a bit familiar. Not too unlike Matt Sehnert's bierocs or as his dad Walt used to call them runza's before the chain of same name took legal offense and Walt had to rename his special food for the soul.

Brighton, a rather rural community, is located alongside Hiway 34 a few miles north of Denver. Grannie has discovered that there is a new shopping mall-type collection of stores that is a great place to exercise her legs cramped by a long car ride. Lunch time, shopping done and no big hurry to get back home, she exercised her iPad and pulled up Guy Fieri's kraut-burger episode. She found the address and the GPS led us right to the place there on Brighton's Sixth Avenue.

It is a good omen to walk into a homey small restaurant to find everything spic and span shining bright as a new penny. The friendly waitress/hostess greeted us old folk and invited us to a table just next to smiling Guy Fieri's poster on the wall. Definitely the right place! Order made and enjoying an iced tea (unsweetened or southern style sweet?) Robin Lauer- Trujillo the owner came in the door and stopped tableside to visit. Yes they had enjoyed the TV personality's visit and were pleased that we too had stopped by before her normal lunch crowd.

Then the owner's dad, the original Lauer who encouraged her to start the business, came from the kitchen shortly after the entrée arrived at our table. I'd overheard him earlier explain to another customer that their centerpiece menu item was from a recipe, an ethnic tradition that actually had come from Russia.

Mr. Lauer, Bob, then joined us at table and I spoke of growing up here in a community of ethnic Germans who had immigrated from along the Volga River near Frank, Russia. I attended District 8 with Lauer kids. Yep, those were his people too.

Lauer-Krauts, reportedly Bob the pro, makes their own sauerkraut just has their German ancestors did before them. The batch we sampled was shredded and salted down to ferment in January. My mom did the same in large crock jars with a plate, weighted by a smooth rock, placed on top of the cheerily bubbling mess. Occasionally skim the gray scum off the top. Covered, it was a way to preserve vegetables rich in vitamin C to prevent scurvy over a long winter. It may be an acquired taste -- anyhow I am fond of the stuff.

Lauer-Krauts makes the kraut burgers in different flavors with cheese added. In addition they make their own soup and we enjoyed the best fresh gazpacho that I've had in my life.

Mom never made the kraut-burgers / bieroc / runza things, but she did make what we called "fried bread dough." She'd use her butcher knife to hack off a raw chunk of homemade rising bread dough, stretch that apart with her hands and plunk it in a large cast iron skillet of lard on the stove just hot enough to almost smoke. When ready, she'd fish out the nicely browned pieces of fried bread and heap them on a plate. The smell was delicious and our family and guests would slather them with fresh (real, thank you) butter and eat with gusto. Nary any left over. My mom had learned it from her German-speaking mother, maiden name Helriegel.

Bob Lauer spoke of playing the Heritage Hills Golf Course here in McCook. I invited him next time through to stop by Sehnert's Bakery Bieroc Café and enjoy a bieroc, another version of his own kraut burger with a slightly different twist.

Grannie recently happened upon another cabbage kraut recipe. Preserve food for winter, same idea that the Germans had only this is the Korean version called kimchee. Chinese cabbage, a salt bath set to soak, rinse then leave to ferment but this time with ample garlic and hot pepper flakes. Whooeee, made right it will blow steam through your pallet but that's a whole 'nother story.

Common roots, ethnic food, great memories brought to us by modern TV, Internet, and the science of GPS navigation. It is a wonderful world we live in if one just stays tuned.

That is how I saw it.

Dick Trail