Half-Pound Cowboy Burgers on the Grill

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We get so busy "doing" on the weekends that we'll often eat lunch so late that we just combine it with an early dinner. Do you do that? That's what we did last weekend when we made these classic, big honkin' Cowboy Burgers for our lunch-dinner. 

This elbow-dripping burger starts with an 8-ounce patty of fresh ground beef and is loaded with smoky cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, bourbon-laden BBQ sauce, fried onions, and homemade spicy pickles.

As always, I have my cooking notes, tips, and more mouth-watering pictures below the recipe. Enjoy!

Cowboy Burgers

By www.nibblemethis.com

Published 08/30/2020

Ingredients

Grilled Pork Chops with Fontina Cheese Mashed Potatoes

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These chops were so delicious for dinner last night, thick, juicy and delightfully seasoned.  Of course, you can't go wrong with cheesy mashed potatoes and to top it all off, I added a hefty dollop of smoked onion jam.

I did something different with these bone-loin chops.  First I dry brined them and then after grilling I treated them sort of like Memphis-style dry-rubbed ribs.  This is a "free cook," where I'm just cooking for the enjoyment so I won't lay out a full detailed recipe here.  

I used the dry-brine technique on the pork chops to create flavor and retain moisture during the cooking process.  The dry-brine method is applying a salty rub to meat and letting it rest, refrigerated, for a while.  At first, the salt draws out moisture from the meat but then as the concentrations change, diffusion pulls the now seasoned moisture back into the meat.  There's more to it than that, but that's the gist of it.

 

I applied the dry brine before I left for work in the morning, so it had 9 hours to work its magic.

The dry brine was simple but covered the bases - salty, sweet, savory, and heat. 

Enchiladas rock as comfort food and as a way to use up leftovers.  Green sauce, red sauce, I don't care, I like them all.  I made these enchiladas using some of that Tex-Mex smoked pork and a variation of that Green Chile and Cilantro Crema we recently made.

You don't have to make the Tex-Mex smoked pork but it sure adds to this dish.  But if you are a barbecue dude with regular leftover smoked pork, you could use that.  Us barbecue nuts almost always have some leftovers stashed away in the freezer somewhere.  If you are lacking leftover pork, you can just buy some sauce free smoked pork from your favorite local BBQ dive.

For the cheese, we just used a 4 cheese Mexican blend.  For the chiles, we fire roasted 1 poblano, 1 jalapeno, and 1 bell pepper but you can use 3/4 cup of whatever roasted chiles that you like.  You can even use 6 ounces of canned chiles but fire roasting them yourself is WAY better.

We find this dish works best with two people.  One person to dip the tortillas and the other person to stuff and roll them.  

Fire Roasted Pork Enchiladas with Green Chile Cream Sauce

Published  07/12/2016

Ingredients

• 2 cups Tex Mex smoked pork or other leftover pulled pork
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 12 corn tortillas

For the Sauce

• 3/4 cup fire roasted chiles (1 poblano, 1 jalapeno, 1 bell)
• 1 cup crema
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp NMT fajita rub
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp roasted garlic
• 1 shredded tortilla 
• 1/4 cup cilantro

Instructions

1. Set up your grill for indirect heat and preheat it to 350°f.
2. In a small pot over medium heat, combine the chiles, crema, chicken stock, fajita rub, lime juice, garlic, and tortilla pieces.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the cilantro and smooth the sauce by processing it with an immersion blender or in a blender.
3. Ladle one large spoonful of the sauce and spread around on the bottom of a casserole dish or half steam pan.
4. One at a time, place each tortilla in the cream sauce to soften.  This should only take 2-3 seconds a side.  If the tortillas are stiff and break when you try to roll them, they need to stay in the cream longer (or turn up the heat).  If the tortillas fall apart, they need to be in the cream for a shorter time (or turn down the heat).
5. As soon as each tortilla is dipped, place a "shy 1/4 cup" of the pork and a "shy 1/4 cup" of cheese down the middle of the tortilla.  Roll the tortilla up and place it seam side down in the pan.  Repeat until finished.
6. Sprinkle any remaining cheese over the assembled enchiladas and drizzle some of the remaining sauce.  Reserve 1 cup of the sauce for serving.
7. Place the casserole dish into your grill, close the lid and let roast for 30 minutes.  Check the enchiladas at the 30 minute mark to see if the tops are golden brown.  If not, recheck every 15 minutes.  They should finish somewhere between 45 minutes and one hour.
8. Serve by drizzling some sauce on a plate and placing 1 to 2 enchiladas on top.

Yield: 10-12 enchiladas

Note:  When we first did this, we warmed the tortillas in cream by itself and then added the cream to the sauce once we were done.  But then we realized it made more sense to just add the cream to the sauce to begin with and use the sauce to warm the tortillas.  Either way works.

Charring the chiles on my Big Green Egg Mini-Max.  A poblano, 1 jalapeno, and a bell pepper give you right at the amount you need with a mild spiciness.  Swap the bell out for another poblano and maybe 2 serrano chiles for more heat.  The grate pictured is a small Craycort with the griddle insert in.  I bought my Mini-Max from Mannix Pools in Winter Haven, FL.

Allow the sauce to simmer but don't let it come to a full boil or it will separate.

Spoon just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

As mentioned, the first time, I made the sauce, then soaked tortillas in cream, and then added the cream to the sauce.  Now we just add the cream to the sauce to start with and warm the tortillas in the sauce.  You have to move quickly - too short/cool and the tortilla's break instead of bending.  Too hot or too long in the cream and the tortillas fall apart.  "Just right" should be about 2-3 seconds per side.

Since you are using leftovers, the pork will be cold.  You don't need to warm it up, cooking in the oven will do that.  

Roll the ends up so that they overlap and then put them seam side down in the pan.

You can roast the enchiladas as is once they are soaked but we like to cover them with more sauce so they cook extra tender and have more flavor.

And by a little I mean a lot :) 

I cooked this batch on one of our Big Green Eggs.  My indirect set up was a cast iron plate setter and a Craycort grate.  You can find the cast iron plate setter at most Egg dealers or online at Smokeware.

This enchilada sauce recipe is fantastic and it rocks with the Tex Mex smoked pork.  Make extras because they reheat very well.  

Great Americana BBQ Festival

There are still spots available for the Great Americana BBQ Festival on August 27th at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, TN. 

• This is a KCBS, Jack Daniels qualifying event with a pro and backyard division. 
• The total purse is $8,000 and they are accepting applications until July 31st or until the event reaches 60 teams.
• Power and water will be provided to the teams and checks will be available for pickup at the awards ceremony. 
• TN distillers guild is providing a bourbon tasting area and music city roots will provide live music all day. 

Franklin Noon Rotary Club is hosting the event and all proceeds go to rotary to put back into the community.  Visit their website for more information. 

We can't attend this event but you should check it out.  Nibble Me This BBQ team's next competition is next month at McMinnville, TN for Smokin' In McMinnville.

 

Check out KCBS for other BBQ contests in your area.  Whether you compete as a pro, enter a backyard (amateur) division, serve as a certified BBQ judge, or just visit, competition BBQ is a fun sport to support.

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I received no compensation for this post.