Welcome to another day of tailgating!
Here's what the rest of the team brought to the table...
Sticky Mango Mustard Glazed Duck Meatballs by girlichef
Pretzel Sticks with Two Sauces by Eliot’s Eats
Cherry Chipotle BBQ Pork Nachos by The Spiffy Cookie
Duck Poppers by CafeTerra
Sips
Corn and Cheddar Dip by Sew You Think You Can Cook
Mains
Ultimate Bacon Burger by Cheese Curd In Paradise
Cincinnati Turkey Chili by The Pajama Chef
Smoky Date Pulled Pork by Curious Cuisiniere
Grilled Cilantro and Lime Chicken Skewers by From Gate to Plate
Grilled Avocado with Melted Cheese & Karma Hot Sauce by Making Miracles
Sides
Just Ducky Baked Beans by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Linebacker-Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies by Things I Make (for Dinner)
Rocky Ledge Bars by Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
Pear Poppy Snails {Birnen Mohn Schnecken} by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies by Love and Confections
Are you a bacon lover? Well, I did an amazing thing with bacon. I have been creating this burger in my head for awhile now, and am happy that it has come to be reality. Disclaimer: your house will smell like bacon for days after you make these babies.... in our case we were kind of excited about that. I took just over 2 pounds of bacon and used it to make the different components of these burgers. I think the best method is cooking all of the bacon so it is ready and you can use it as you go. I think Ron fell more in love with me when I call him on the way home from the store and said "honey, cook all the bacon in the house". Music to his bacon lovin' ears.
I started by grinding bacon for the burger patties and the aoli. I did it in separate batches to measure for the recipe, but it could be ground all at once. I find that grinding the bacon over chopping is preferable because it is smaller and gives more bacon flavor through out the entire burger. I also used the ground bacon in the aoli with a bit of roasted garlic, but if you do not have roasted garlic fresh minced works well too. The burger with the aoli, melted cheese and crispy bacon on top is the perfect burger for a bacon lover! I think that you could easily add grilled or fried onion or any veggies and have a great result. However, we stuck to bacon, bacon and bacon on our burger. In my opinion, the sauce makes the burger and is fantastic for dipping potato wedges and veggies as well.
To test for the burger to insure they reached desired temperature of 160 degree F I used a handy gadget from our sponsor ThermoWorks. ThermoWorks sent all participants a digital thermometer called ThermoPop. ThermoPop is a rotating pocket thermometer which allows the user a good angle to read the temperature in any position. ThermoPop also gives a reading within 5-6 seconds which is great when you are cooking over a hot grill! Another plus they come in a variety of fun colors (mine is red).
Thanks for joining me at our tailgate party! Please visit my fellow tailgaters for more delicious recipes and don't forget to enter the giveaway!
Ingredients
10 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp and ground
2 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
for aoli:
2/3 cup mayo
1-2 cloves roasted garlic (you can read my method here) or 1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 pieces of bacon, cooked crisp and ground
1 Tbl BBQ sauce
1/4 tsp white pepper
6 Hamburger buns, grilled
6 slices of American cheese
12 strips of bacon, cooked crisp
Instructions
In a small food processor combine ground bacon, mayo, garlic, lemon juice, bbq sauce and white pepper. Plus till evenly blended. You could do this by hand, but make sure the garlic is finely diced. Remove sauce from food processor and set a side.
In a large bowl, gently mix beef, bacon and spices till loosely mixed together. Form into 6 burger patties. Heat grill to medium high and grill 3-4 minutes per side or until thermometer reads 160 degrees F at the thickest part of the burger. In the last minute of cooking, place one slice of cheese on each burger. Allow cheese to melt and remove burgers from the grill. Quickly toast the split buns on the grill (about 30 seconds to 1 minute) and remove.
To assemble the burgers, spread aoli on both sides of the bun. Next place burger on the bun and top with bacon. Crack a beer and devour.