BBQ Chicken Burgers

I know I describe a lot of food on this blog (either dishes from a restaurant or recipes that turn out well) by saying it is "to die for." And these burgers are no different. I made these for our Fourth of July barbecue, and they were a huge hit! They are SO juicy and flavorful and out of the ordinary. 


Just a head's up though- this recipe calls for pulled pork, so plan ahead! I used this recipe, which is for crock pot Hawaiian Kalua pork. The pork recipe is very basic, as I didn't the pork to be too heavily seasoned and compete with the flavor of the burgers. It was extremely easy, it just required a bit of extra time. You could probably leave the pork out, but I really think it took these burgers to the next level.

 

BBQ Chicken Burgers
(makes about 10-12 burgers)

for the burgers:
2 lbs of ground chicken
1/2 cup of cornmeal
3 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
1/2 medium onion, minced

1 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of  garlic powder
2 teaspoons of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 Tablespoons of brown sugar

1 1/3 cups of pulled pork
4 Tablespoons of BBQ sauce

for serving/cooking:
extra BBQ sauce for basting
2 red onions, sliced into rings
8 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
hamburger buns

Directions: Put all of the ingredients for the burgers in a large bowl. Hand mix until everything is well combined. Form about 12 equal sized patties. (I froze the patties for about 30 minutes to make them a bit more solid, since they were pretty sticky and fragile.)

Grease your grill grate, and place burgers and onions on the grill. Close the lid, and allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes. Flip the onions and burgers, and brush BBQ sauce on grilled side of the burgers. Close lid again, and cook for another 2 minutes. Flip the burgers again, top with cheese, and close the lid. Cook for about 1 minute, or until cheese is melted. Assemble burgers on buns with grilled onion, and extra BBQ sauce if desired. Enjoy!


Adapted from Pink Parsley, original recipe here.

Hawaiian Pork Kabobs with Pineapple Rice

 One of my favorite parts of the warmer weather is definitely being able to cook dinner on the grill outside. I love the delicious smell that floats through the air as dinner is grilling away, and that smoky flavor the food has when it's done. It's also a great time to enjoy a cold beer or nice mojito on the porch after a long day!

This one has great, classic flavors and would be easy to throw together throughout the spring and summer.

Hawaiian Pork Kabobs with Pineapple Rice

1 (large) can of pineapple chunks, drained with juice set aside

2 boneless pork loin chops, cut into 1" cubes
Kosher salt
black pepper

2 bell peppers (yellow, orange, or red) chopped into 1" chunks

1/2 cup of brown rice
2 scallions, diced
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

Directions: Season cubes of pork with a dash of Kosher salt and black pepper. Place in pineapple juice (with the pineapple chunks already removed), and allow to marinate for about 30 minutes.

Split pineapple chunks into two separate bowls. Alternate pork cubes with peppers and one bowl of the pineapples on skewers. Place skewers over indirect heat on the grill for about 10-15 minutes, or until edges start to char, rotating once.

Meanwhile, place other bowl of pineapple chunks into a food processor and pulse for a few seconds to a pulp. Cook the rice according to package directions. When it's done, mix in the scallions, pineapple pulp, and ginger; stir to combine. Serve with the pork kabobs. Enjoy!

Adapted from Annie's Eats, original recipe here.

Bleu Cheese Burgers

I love a good burger. And I especially love finding different ways to make the same old burger. The possibilities are endless! I found this bleu cheese burger on Pioneer Woman, and since H is a big fan of bleu cheese, I knew he would love it.

Bleu Cheese Burgers

1 red onion, cut into slices
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons brown sugar

4 Tablespoons mayonnaise
Tabasco sauce to taste

1 lb. ground beef (makes 4 burgers)
pinch of Kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
3 tespoons Tabasco sauce
1 egg

crumbled bleu cheese
spring greens
4 Kaiser rolls

Heat butter in saucepan until melted. Add brown sugar and red onion, and slowly let caramelize.

Mix up mayonnaise and Tabasco to form a spicy mayonnaise. Use as much Tabasco as you prefer for heat, tasting to test.

Mix beef with egg, salt, pepper, and Tabsco and form into burgers. Grill those babies up!

Towards the end of the burgers grilling, place the Kaiser rolls directly on the grill grate for a few seconds to blacken (not letting them get as dark as I got mine). When burgers are done, spread spicy mayo on the rolls, and top burgers with bleu cheese crumbles, caramelized onions, and spring greens. Enjoy!

Adapted from Pioneer Woman, original recipe here. These were definitely very tasty, and a nice twist on the same old!

New Recipe Review- Cherry Tomato Salad and Turkey Cheddar Burgers

It's been so hot lately (we've had 3 days straight of highs in the lower 100's), that I haven't been in the mood to do a whole lot of cooking this week. We have mostly been grilling outside as to not heat up the house, and I think my brain may be quite fried as well. So what to do for my new recipe this week? Well, the answer is to kind of take the easy way out...

I made both of these dishes before, so I'm not sure if this is cheating, but I have never used these recipes before, so I'll say it's not. Well... that and I'm the one who makes up the rules!

The recipe for Turkey Cheddar Burgers is from Epicurious and can be found here. I usually make turkey burgers with a bit more add-in's- egg, breadcrumbs, ketchup, garlic, Worcestershire, etc. in addition to the salt, pepper, and onion (shallot in this case)- so I admit I was a little nervous about a possible lack of flavor. I also forgot to make the sun-dried tomato mayo with this (told you my brain is fried), so instead we used ranch dressing as a spread, and topped them with more cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and slices of avocado.

They were good, especially on the grill! Probably not what the recipe intended, as I turned them into somewhat of a Southwestern burger, but I liked them. The cheddar melted inside the burgers, so that definitely gave them the flavor I was hoping for. And the extra sliced cheddar on top gave them the cheesiness I need in a burger. I would probably add Worcestershire sauce next time though... or make them with beef, not sure if turkey was as "meaty" as I felt these should be.

The recipe for Cherry Tomato Salad is from Annie at Annie's Eats can be found here. It was a couple more steps (for me anyway) than the usual tomato-cucumber-feta salad, but it was well worth it! Letting the tomatoes sit in the salt and sugar definitely brought out their flavor, in addition to the juices. The salad was so light and flavorful, definitely a perfect summer side dish.

New England Clambake- Right at Home

Happy Fourth of July (weekend)! Hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable weekend :) So far, we've had time with friends, both of our families, multiple barbecues, and the beach! And so, we're taking it a bit easy today. How was your weekend? Any celebrations?

 (source)

H and I started the weekend off with a bang and had a couple friends coming over for a barbeque Friday. I was dying to try something different; I didn't want to do the usual hamburgers/hot dogs/chicken, and the last time they came over we had seared ahi tuna steaks on the grill (yum), so I didn't want to do that again either. So after a bit of searching, I found a recipe for a backyard clambake from Rachael Ray. Hm, now we're talking!

Her recipes tend to be pretty hit or miss with me, but I was hoping this one would work out! It looked surprisingly easy, and I figured it would taste great on our charcoal grill. I didn't make many changes- except that I used all the same type of clams (just littleneck instead of littleneck and steamers), dried thyme instead of fresh, and well, didn't really measure too much. I just used what we had/seasoned to what looked good. It turned out really well! Everyone was satisfied, and it really tasted great on the grill.

I was also inspired by another Rachael Ray recipe, Blackberry Ginger Sour Highballs, for our drinks. I didn't make this exact one, because, well, it sounded too difficult. That and I was nervous the blackberry syrup at the bottom being too, ah... chunky. Nothing ruins a good drink for me faster than pulp or seeds. Strawberry smoothies? Gross. Pulpy orange juice? Gag me with a spoon. Anyway... I decided to make a mix of three quarters lemonade and one quarter club soda, and then mix that with the gin. I froze black berries to use as ice cubes, so it was kind of a blackberry gin lemonade.

Throw in a salad, and some deliciously, perfectly sweet summer watermelon and you have yourself a summer feast!

New Recipe Review- Fish Tacos

For my new recipe this week, I was inspired by this recipe. However, I didn't exactly follow it. I had a multitude of reasons- the fish sounded too spicy, I couldn't find jicama, I thought it really needed some guacamole, etc. etc...

So here's what I did instead:
For the salsa: Mix together 2 cups of corn, 2 cups of black beans, 1 red bell pepper- diced small, and 1/2 purple onion- sliced thin, in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 2 T. of lime juice, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and 2 teaspoons of white sugar (or honey) and mix well. Chop up 2 big handfuls of cilantro in the food processor, and mix in. Pour spices on veggies, and stir to coat.

For the fish: Take 4 tilapia filets, and season with lime juice and cajun seasoning. Wrap them up in aluminum foil and let them marinate for about 2o minutes. Place aluminum packet on the grill and let cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat, flipping once. Remove from packet, place directly on the grill grate to blacken slightly.

For the guacamole: Peel and pit 2 avocados, chop and place in food processor. Add 2 T. minced garlic, 1 handful cilantro, 1 T. lime juice, and small handful of cherry tomatoes to food processor and mix to desired consistency.



I served them on flour tortillas with a dollop of sour cream. These were awesome, I will definitely be making them again. Te recipe serves 4, and they were even better the second time, the flavors really sank in. BTW, this really called for a margarita!!