BBQ Pork Burgers

I'm blogging again! I'm not really sure what happened there for awhile. I had some new recipes but they all need tweaking and aren't blog-ready yet. :) But I made this last night...the BBQ Pork Burger. It's kind of a spin on a classic BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich. While BBQ pulled pork is delicious, it's also time consuming, so here's a quicker version for ya!

-1 lb ground pork (makes 4 large or 6 regular burgers)
-1 large shallot or 1/2 white onion, diced
-a small handful of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped
-1 1/2 TBS BBQ spice rub (recipe follows or make up your own!)
-1/3 cup of BBQ sauce (recipe follows or use bottled BBQ sauce)
-2/3 cup of plain bread crumbs (may need a little more)
-1 egg
-a heavy pinch of salt and black pepper
-1/2 bag of broccoli slaw
-1/4 cup of poppyseed dressing
-buns of your choice (toasted, if desired)

BBQ Spice Rub
-1 TBS California Chili Powder (or whatever chili powder you have on hand)
-1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
-1 tsp onion powder
-1 tsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp ground mustard
-a heavy pinch of cayenne or chipotle powder
-a heavy pinch of salt

BBQ Sauce
-1 cup of water
-1 cup of Ketchup
-1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
-3 TBS brown sugar
-3 TBS molasses
-1 TBS dry ground mustard
-1 TBS soy sauce
-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
(If you are so inclined, you can add a splash of Jack Daniel's or Jameson for an added kick to the sauce. Add the ingredients in order into a sauce pan. Bring up to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened, whisking occasionally. It may seem like a hassle to make homemade BBQ sauce, but this one is easy and really good! I hope you try it.)

In a small mixing bowl, add the broccoli slaw, poppyseed dressing, salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Set aside. (If you prefer the traditional coleslaw, go ahead and use that. Instead of the poppyseed dressing, you can use the more traditional dressing which is equal parts mayo and sour cream, the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper. Feel free to add in other flavors to it, like fresh dill or parsley.) In a medium saute pan, add about a half of a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and bring it up to temperature over medium heat. Add onions and saute until softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground pork, cooled onions, parsley, spice rub, cooled BBQ sauce, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper. Gently mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. Add a little more breadcrumb as needed for the mixture to come together. Form into patties no more than an inch thick. Using the same pan that you cooked the onions in, heat up another tablespoon of olive oil and bring up to temperature over medium heat. Cook burgers about 4-5 minutes on one side to create a good caramelization on the outside of the burger. Flip the burger over and place a lid on the pan. This ensures that the burger will be cooked through. Cook for another 4-5 minutes on the second side. To serve, place a couple of tablespoons of the slaw on the bottom bun, place the pork burger on top of the slaw. Add a generous amount of BBQ sauce on top on the burger and place the top bun on the burger. (You may want to either use slightly larger buns or make the burgers slightly smaller than the bun so that when you pour the BBQ sauce over the burger, the bun will catch any drips!)

This burger was really different. I loved taking one idea and morphing it into something else. I enjoyed that I could taste the tangy BBQ sauce in the burger, as well as on the burger. This is why I love making burgers so much...you can put almost anything in them! They are so versatile and fun to make. I'm eager to hear any of your special burger recipes. :)