So as one does, when you invite family over for burgers – you can’t just make boring ol’ burgers. Maybe I should, because that’s pretty much what everyone was comfortable with eating. You know how I do.. we’re doing it 4 ways.
The Prep Table
I really don’t know why I do what I do sometimes. I try to make some weird stuff, but nearly all of it ends up here. I’ll take a taste and be like, “Yep, that works”. If only my audience would be as adventurous. Anyway, the burger was going to be burger – simple blackstone patties, moderately seasoned with Meaty Bits Beef Rub and a little bit of green onion. The rest, we’re digging into some wild ideas.
The first thing we’re doing is a Prik Nam Pla burger. This spicy little condiment is of Thai origin and features a fish sauce base. We put them red chiles in there and I opted for some sugar and garlic and a bit of lime. And finally some shallots that mysteriously disappeared from the list.. Kept it in the jar until game time.
Been waiting to make a Peri Peri sauce for some time, but could never find the traditional bird’s eye chili around here. I’m thinking the Bird’s Eye and the Thai chili are the same thing, and our Asian market had ’em bright and ready. Blended up this spicy sauce and although I wasn’t using it for this cook – I had the chiles so I whipped it up. (I used it on some chicken nugs – awesome flavor. When I do a smoked chicken next, we’re throwing it on there).
Lastly, I knew my audience will shy away from spice. I needed something that wasn’t spicy, so I thought Bang Bang Sauce would be perfect. With way more sweet than heat, this was going to be the one people tried (it wasn’t). But I did, and it complemented the burger nicely. It’s not just for shrimp! One mayo, one without – Was going to use the mayo-less to cook the burger in, and then top it with the creamy.
And the last part of our prep table is the corn. I always try to pre-soak, and that’s what we got here.
The Process
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Awesome photo showing some smoked and griddled bacon. The smoked bacon was going to be your burger-topper bacon while the blackstone bacon was going to be used for our fourth burger. We got the traditional burger, we got the Thai spicy Prik Nam Pla, we got the Bang Bang Burger.. now the one I was most excited for:
Of course, it was going to have a little spice. I know, I can’t help it. But jalapeno poppers aren’t terribly hot, so this (could’ve) appealed to the masses. I thought maybe topping a burger with a jalapeno popper dip would be a little bit of a mushy mess and lacking some texture. So we’re going to make these little cheesy crisps.
We had (tried to have) two smokers and the Blackstone out. We had two prep tables out. It was going to be fast and furious. My lil RecTeq had a bit of an self-inflicted issue, so I had to time it all out on the big guy.
Smash burgers are smash burgers – they’ll be fine. They’re sliders.. for me? I needed all that extra to make ’em shine.
The Result
Been trying to get my cast iron game working, and this one was a success. Ain’t nothing wrong with this. Cool. Let’s get moving.
Popper crisps were such a perfect addition. That crunch is exactly what was needed. And it was cheesy, bacon, and jalapeno. These just by themselves were awesome.
You know this one wouldn’t fail. Been doing this as long as I’ve had them RecTeq’s.. Smoked bacon is always a winner.
MrsForensicBBQ knows how to plate everything. With an aggressive slant towards fish-related dishes, we got everything ready. The plan was to cook up some burgers, throw ’em in a half pan and let people decide how to top ’em. Now, truthfully, I don’t know who all had what. I just know when it was time to “Hey, anyone want a prik nam pla burger”? “Anyone for the Bang Bang Burger”? They weren’t crowd pleasers. But let me tell you:
They worked. They all really worked well. Top left was traditional bacon/cheese with the LTO (and jalapeno). That was good, but it was 4th place for me. Middle top was our bang-bang burger, placed on a lettuce leaf and topped with a little slaw. The sauce was very complimentary, and although slaw isn’t my thing – I tried it and it worked. I basically used the non-mayo sauce and cooked it in and then came back with a little thicker sauce. Very tasty.. but unfortunately took the bronze.
Second place was the Prik Nam Pla, only because the Jalapeno Popper dip/crisp combo kicked some serious ass. As soon as I threw some of the thai condiment on the Blackstone and cooked the burger in it, the aroma made it’s way to the deck (and the guests) and some coughing ensued. I smiled and kept cooking. Then topping it with some of the chiles/shallots, this flavor was remarkable. I can’t wait to always have this sauce around.
And that leaves us with the jalapeno popper burger, which was magnificent. The dip was great by itself, but adding a little meat to it in the form of a slider worked. And when those crisps hit with a stronger cheese and crunch – it worked.
Slider’s four-ways – for me. Could’ve been simple and just pleased the crowd with just the patties – but nah, I can’t. Until next week!
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