Bacon Gouda Burgers

                                    

Bacon Gouda Burgers

We made this delicious burger for Memorial Day.  The recipe looks pretty simple but sometimes there are additional steps needed in order to properly prepare a dish.

In our case it involved covering the grates with foil to minimize drippage and grease fires.  Which, of course led to the grill over-heating and the grill cover in the cabinet below catching fire. The next step was the use of a fire extinguisher and the cleaning of the grill. Followed by airing out the house of the acrid smoke.

When the grill was cleaned off we continued bar-be-que-ing.  The end result was these perfect burgers.  Oh, the pot on the grill? The pasta cooked perfectly.

I'm sure you can probably get the same results without the fire.

Now on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Burgers:
• 
  
• 4 lbs Ground Beef
• 1 cup Bread Crumbs
• 4 Eggs
• 6 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 tsps Garlic Powder
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper, to taste
•  8 hamburger buns, split and toasted
• Toppings of choice
• 
  
• Filling:
• 
  
• 8 slices Bacon
• 3 cups Gouda Cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Parsley
• 1/4 cup and 2 Tbs Dijon Mustard
•  
• 
  
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Directions

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate.
3. Cool and crumble into a bowl.
4. Stir in the gouda, parsley, and mustard. Set aside.
5. Place the ground beef into a mixing bowl with the bread crumbs, egg, chopped garlic, and garlic powder.
6. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
7. Mix until evenly blended.
8. Form into very thin patties.
9. Divide the Gouda cheese filling on half of the patties.
10. Place the remaining patties on top.  
11. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat.
12. Lightly oil the grate.
13. Cook on the preheated grill until the patties are cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 3 minutes per side for well done. Internal temperature should read 160 degrees.
14. Serve on hamburger buns with favourite toppings.

Enjoy!

            Ingrid

Slow-Cooker Pork Ribs

I found this recipe in an album on Chicago Foodie Sisters Facebook page and decided to start it before work today.  I did make some changes to the seasonings from what they used but pretty much stayed with their recipe. This is very tender and delicious!

Slow-Cooker Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

        4 lbs Pork Ribs

        Water to cover bottom of slow-cooker with 1 inch.

        1/4 cup Brown Sugar

        3 Tbs Worchestershire Sauce

        3 tbs A-1 Steak Sauce

        3 tbs Bar-B-Que Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray')

        1/4 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

        1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

        1/4 tsp Celery Powder

        1/4 tsp Chili Powder

        1/4 tsp Salt

        1/4 tsp Pepper

        

Directions:

1. Mix in a bowl, Montreal Steak Seasoning, garlic powder, celery powder, chili powder, salt, pepper and brown sugar.
2. Rub mix onto pork ribs.
3. Next put about an inch of water in the Crockpot.
4. Add the ribs to the water.
5. Combine Worchestershire Sauce, A-1 Sauce and Barb-Be-Que Sauce
6. Pour sauce mix over meat.
7. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Enjoy!

            Ingrid

Authentic Carnitas - cooked in lard

I know I have featured Carnitas before but I wanted to make sure that I include  this version from The Pampered Chef.  Carnitas are chunks of pork shoulder that have been slowly cooked until golden brown, slightly crispy, and very tender. Cooking them in lard is the secret in this recipe. I have another version more Tex-Mex that is healthier.

Authentic Carnitas

Ingredients:

    

        2 1/2 lbs Boneless Pork Shoulder

        2 lbs Lard

        1/4 cup Lime Juice 

        1/2 Tbs Salt 

        2 doz Tortillas

        Pico de Gallo

Directions:

1. Slice the pork into 3 inch slabs. It's important that they all end up roughly the same size, so they cook in the same amount of time.  
2. Toss the pork into a large bowl.
3. Add the lime juice and salt.
4. Stir the pieces until well coated.
5. Cover the bowl and set aside for an hour.
6. Toss the pieces twice over the course of the hour. 
7. Meanwhile, melt the lard in a large pot over medium heat.  
8. When the hour is up, carefully add the pork to the pot. The lard should cover the pieces. After a few minutes, very large and lazy bubbles will pop to the surface. This is what you want. 
9. Let cook on medium, flipping the pieces occasionally for even cooking, for about 2 hours. The meat should be very tender when pierced with a fork. It took me an extra 15 minutes. 
10. Raise the temperature to medium-high. The lard will start bubbling furiously.
11. Cook for 30 minutes. They should come out all nicely browned and golden. 
12. Set them on a cutting board and let sit for 10 minutes or so. 
13. Meanwhile, fill the bottom of another pot with about a 1/2 inch of water and bring to a boil. 
14. Wrap the tortillas in a towel and set in a steamer basket atop the boiling water. Cover the pot.
15. Cook for 1 minute. 
16. Then turn off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes or so. 
17. Pull the pork apart with two forks.
18. Roll up a little meat into a taco, sprinkle on some salt, and top with pico de gallo.   

Enjoy!

            Ingrid