Ooooo contender for best Summer Inspired Dinner Series dinner yet!!! Read on… 
So tonight’s dinner got moved indoors because once again it’s raining…AND it’s cold! I’ve been saying the past couple of weeks that I’m getting quasi excited for Fall to get here, but when I actually got a taste of it today – I got a little scared… I’m not ready for my hot temps to disappear!
At any rate, like I said – it’s cold and rainy here – so my Summer Inspired Dinner Series dinner Day 4: Summer Classics was made indoors!
On the menu:
- Chicken Brats
- Fresh Iowa Sweet Corn
- Potato Salad
- Scroll down for dessert…muwahahaha
Now one of the very first things I fire up my grill for when the weather gets nice every year is brats. Oh, how I love brats. They are the quintessential summer grill occupant. Smokey, salty, satisfying…I could eat them all day! But, let’s be real, brats are not good for you in any way shape or form. So imagine my pure delight when I found Chicken Brats at my butcher shop last weekend!
I grilled (pun intended) the butcher on what were in these alleged chicken brats. After all, a chicken brat could contain many chicken-y things… After reassuring me several times that they contained ONLY all white meat chicken and spices – I was sold!
This morning I parked my brats in a big pot with plenty of sliced onions and beer. After getting sauced all day, I boiled them for about 10 minutes and fired up my trusty grill pan. When you cannot go to the grill – bring the grill to you!
I placed my brats on the grill pan and let ‘em rip for about 5 minutes a side. (Sneak peak at dessert!)
When they were golden brown on both sides we were ready to eat! These brats were PERFECT I’m telling you. So much lighter than their pork cousins. There was seriously zero fat in the grill pan, but they still had all the great brat flavor!
I served our brats with some of Mom’s Potato Salad from last night. This classic summer salad is just too delish to let sit in the fridge.
I gave my portion a dash of paprika to liven it up a bit. Hey, we eat with our eyes too!
Rounding out the dinner trio is arguably the best thing on the plate – Local Iowa Sweet Corn.
Nothing says summer more than those crunchy, sweet kernels.
I simply cut the kernels off the cobs and steamed them for maybe two minutes. Ugh – sweet, sweet Iowa bliss
Doesn’t get much more easy, delicious or summery than this, friends!
Now, I know you’ve all been waiting for it…it’s the return of Ben’s Corner!
Tonight, Ben’s corner features something Ben dreamt up at a 4th of July BBQ we went to this year. He literally has not stopped talking about it since. Ladies and Gents – behold something only a man could love…A Hotwurst.
Yes, it’s true. A hot dog and a bratwurst, together in a bun, slathered in the man’s favorite condiment… It’s a hotwurst.
So big that you need tongs to hold it together…
He ate this thing before we even sat down to dinner!
Happy Ben 
This has been Ben’s corner. I sure hope you enjoyed it! Check out Ben’s Corner Volume 1 here.
OK DESSERT!!!
The biggest winner of the week for sure: Grilled Peaches with Sweet Ricotta Cheese.
OMG.
1 grilled peach topped with ricotta cheese that was sweetened with a mere pinch of white sugar.
I had to stop myself from eating all the ricotta before it made it to the peach!
Friggin.good. people – seriously. Friggin delish. You’ve got to try ricotta on grilled peaches, or ricotta on shortcakes (which I might have had tonight too…), or ricotta on…um – anything! Ricotta is leeeeeeegit!
I kind of wish this was the last day of the series, because it will be hard to top tonight’s meal! Light chicken brats, Mom’s potato salad, fresh Iowa sweet corn and ricotta topped grilled peaches. Classic!
Dinner looks great, but man, dessert? YES PLEASE!
I love brats too, but chicken brats, wow sounds amazing! Can’t ever beat Iowa sweet corn. Grilled peaches are so juicy and delicious, but I’ve never had ricotta, looks good though!
Everything about this dinner sounds like summer. I love grilling peaches and adding them to my salad, but I just saw a recipe on the Barefoot Contessa for grilled peaches for dessert. Looked amazing, much like yours!
If you think that is good, seriously, try adding grilled peaches to your next salad. The falvor is unexplainably good!
I love to grill peaches and get all the juice running–soo good.
And I agree, I’m not as ready for summer to be gone yet. I thought it was, but it was only about 65 for my morning run, and now I’m looking for the warmth again
Your blog = MAJOR food porn.
Chicken brats intrigue me! I like the spicy-ness of regular brats, but not that rubbery-ish texture.
Iowa sweet corn is AWESOME! We helped my parents freeze for 12 hours a few weeks ago!
Ricotta cheese is on my “yucky” list, sorry! So you can have it all and enjoy it!
Love grilled peaches! But with ricotta?! HOTNESS!
Kristin this looks INCREDIBLE! I would LOVE, love, love to find chicken brats…I’ve never seen them before. Brats are honestly one of my favorite foods, but I never eat them. Loving the “hotwurst”, too, btw! I definitely would’ve had to steal a bite of that one!
I grilled peaches the other night and I wasn’t wild about the consistency, but I think I would’ve liked them better had I added ricotta or something.
And oh, how I miss Iowa corn. My grandmother lives in Iowa, and I’ve grown up going there 1-2 times per year. The corn is always the best. And the cottage cheese. Why the cottage chese is the best there, I’m not sure….but it is…
Yum, those chicken brats sound great! I found some chicken sausage at Sam’s Club a few months ago that the hubby and I are rather fond of. Dessert looks great!
lol – love the hotwurst
nice dessert – that looks heavenly! grilled peaches and grilled pineapple is a summer favorite!!!
HOLY HELL! I was just about to complain about how nobody even MENTIONED Ben’s corner, so thank you to alligag. Benjamin, I hope you wiped your face with your shirt and then burped really loudly. I request next time, you write what the food made you feel.
I like the taste, but the skins are hard to chew — I have to keep spitting them out. Unless the skins become easier to chew, I won’t be buying any more.