Hi everyone! I’ve been having a hard time motivating to write this post today….I’m pooped! I joined a gym last week, and I have been trying to go every day. I am so out of shape that it takes me a good 3 to 4 hours to recover after a gym visit. The fact that I joined is huge….anyone that knows me knows that I am not the world’s biggest fan of exercise. I worked in the health club industry for 10 years, but I can still count the number of times I “worked out” on 2 hands. But alas, age, gravity, and fatty foods are catching up with me. So off to the gym I go. But I won’t like it.
Anyhoo, I have recovered enough to type. Today I am going to give you some more 4th of July recipes! Remember Tuesday? I showed you two easy appetizer ideas. Today I am going to give you the recipe for Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Burgers and BBQ Bacon Corn. I can pretty much promise you that this corn will be the best grilled corn you have ever eaten. Bold statement, I know….but wait till you taste it. The burgers are pretty amazing too;) BTW-Macaroni Salad was also on my 4th menu, and we ate it last night….but guess what….I bought it;)
Let’s start with the corn….
What you are looking at above is the ingredients for a compound butter that will top the corn. A “compound butter” is basically softened butter blended with something else, usually herbs, garlic, fruit, etc. I used BBQ sauce. Specifically, Gourmet Rooster Smokehouse Bacon BBQ Sauce. I also used salt and pepper.
I put the softened butter into my Magic Bullet with a couple of tablespoons of BBQ sauce. Then, I blended it until smooth. The butter must be very soft for this to work. I stirred in the salt and pepper too.
I realize how gross the above picture looks. But it isn’t gross. It is buttery, smoky goodness. I poured the butter onto a piece of waxed paper.
Hard to see, but I rolled the waxed paper into a tube. This butter needs a few hours in the fridge to harden. So, yes, this needs to be done in advance.
The rest of the ingredients for the corn are corn on the cob, olive oil, cooked bacon, chives and Cotija cheese. I used garlic olive oil, but you could use plain. You could also sub in any crumbly cheese in place of Cotija, which is a Mexican crumbly cheese. It is salty, like feta.
I put all of the corn into a shallow dish and drizzled it with olive oil. I also salt and peppered it, which once again, I forgot to put into the ingredients picture.
I grilled the corn on the BBQ for about 3 minutes each side. It will get some good char marks, which is great flavor. Don’t let it grill for too long…it will start to pop. I grilled my corn over medium heat (indirect). You could wrap it in foil, or keep it in the husk for grilling, but I really like the char marks on the corn.
Once the corn came off the grill, I put a slice of the BBQ butter on each piece. I kind of rubbed it around the whole cob. You want to make sure that the entire cob is coated in this delicious butter.
I sprinkled the crumbled bacon, chives and cheese over the top before serving the corn. OMG-this was phenomenal. You might end up with leftover BBQ butter…..this butter would be great on a steak, over popcorn, on a baked potato, etc. The possibilities are endless. You will wonder why you haven’t combined BBQ sauce with butter before.
For the burgers…..
I used 2 pounds of ground beef, a batch of my pimiento cheese (recipe to follow), salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. I don’t junk up my burgers with too much extra stuff.
I use ground beef with a little fat in it for burgers. Don’t use the leanest beef, it won’t work as well. Fat=flavor.
I put the ground beef into a big bowl and added about a tablespoon each of garlic powder and onion powder. I did about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. I mixed the spices into the meat lightly with my hands. You don’t want to overwork your meat. Am I right, fellas?
To form the patties, I made a thin bottom patty and topped that with about 1 tablespoon of pimiento cheese. I covered that with another thin patty, sealing the edges. It is super important to seal the edges so the cheese doesn’t leak out. This will make about 6 burgers.
I grilled my burgers for about 5 minutes per side. I like mine medium, you may have to adjust your time depending on your preference.
Now that’s a fire!
And look at the burger in the back. Apparently I got lazy with sealing edges….he is coming apart. It will still taste great, though.
The pimiento cheese gets all gooey and melty in the middle. Remember, my pimiento cheese has cream cheese, mayo, and ranch dressing mix in it. This will give your burger amazing flavor! The only downside is that everyone gets a cheeseburger….whether they want it or not. But who wouldn’t want a burger with a surprise pocket of goodness in the middle?
I bought the cute little plastic baskets with liners at the Walmartz. Such a cute serving idea for burgers! And make sure you remember your flags if you are making these for the 4th!
I can’t wait to share the desserts with you on Tuesday! I promise…this menu gets even better!
BBQ Bacon Corn
Corn on the cob-about 6 to 10 ears
1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons BBQ Sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup garlic olive oil
5 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup Cotija cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup chives, minced
Blend softened butter with BBQ sauce and ½ teaspoon each salt & pepper. Reserve the remaining salt and pepper for sprinkling over the corn before grilling. Form into log and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Clean and shuck corn. Drizzle cobs with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Grill corn on BBQ for about 3 minutes per side or until slightly charred all over.
Once corn in done, remove from grill and place in shallow dish. Place about 1 tablespoon BBQ butter on each cob. Coat corn completely with butter.
Sprinkle corn with bacon, cheese, and chives to serve.
Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Burgers
2 pounds ground beef, not less than 16% fat
½ batch Court’s Pimiento Cheese
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Buns, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, etc.
Place beef in a large bowl and add seasonings. Mix lightly with your hands. Form a thin patty and place 1 tablespoon of pimiento cheese in the middle. Top with another thin patty and seal edges. Repeat as needed.
Grill burgers about 5 minutes per side. Serve with all the burger fixins’.
Court’s Pimiento Cheese6 ounces softened cream cheese
2/3 Cup mayonnaise
4 ounces diced pimientos, drained
1/3 Cup diced green onions
½ pack dry ranch dressing mix
3 cups grated cheese
Dash black pepper
-Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly blended
No comments:
Post a Comment