Grilled Pork Burgers with Molasses Barbecue Sauce Recipe

- Yield:4
Ingredients
- 5 strips thick-cut bacon
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 small Hungarian wax peppers (also known as banana peppers) or other mild chili peppers, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper
- 1/2 pound spicy pork sausages
- 1/4 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1/4 light unsulphured molasses
- 1 plum tomato, chopped
- 3 scallions, white part only, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Directions
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1.
Cook the bacon and garlic in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. When the bacon is about halfway done, add the chopped pepper and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the cumin and lemon pepper and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Pour off, then discard the bacon drippings. Pour the contents of the pan into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until the bacon and peppers are finely chopped.
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2.
Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high. Split the sausage casings with a knife and crumble contents in a large bowl. Add the ground pork then add half the bacon-pepper mixture, and using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Form into 4 burgers of equal size. Grill or broil the burgers, flipping once, brushing the cooked side with 1 tablespoon of the barbecue sauce until the juices run clear, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. While the burgers are cooking, mix the remaining bacon-pepper mixture with the mayonnaise. Serve the burgers on corn bread or onion rolls, topped with the warm Molasses Barbecue Sauce, found after the jump.
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3.
Molasses Barbecue Sauce
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4.
Combine all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and, stirring periodically to avoid burning. Cook until the quantity is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Serve warm over the burgers.