The Original Ham-Burger

I made a very tasty burger over the weekend that I thought I'd share with you.  It's kind of unusual (no beef), very easy and really yummy.

It's from Ted Reader's Hot and Sticky BBQ cookbook.

THE ORIGINAL HAM-BURGER
Makes 12 burgers

INGREDIENTS
1 lbs ground pork
1 lb (1/4" thick) slice smoked ham or back bacon, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp ground dried sage
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
12 burger buns
1/2 cup melted butter

1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. In a large bowl, combine pork, ham, onion, garlic, mustard, parsley, black pepper, red pepper, sage, cayenne and salt.
3. Form into 12 equal-sized patties.  (A flatter burger will cook more evenly and faster than a more ball-shaped burger.)
4. Grill burgers 4-5 min per side for medium-well.  (They will be dry if you overcook.)
5. Brush buns with melted butter and grill cut-side down until crisp and golden brown.
6. Top with your favorite cheese, veggies, mustard...whatever you want!

Pigging Out

Yesterday, MB, Jake & I went to Bushkill Falls for some hiking.  It's sort of hiking--mostly climbing wooden steps, but still nice.  We thought we might be crazy since the forecast high for Bushkill was 95, but in the woods it was much cooler and the falls, although not rushing as they probably usually are because we haven't had rain in what seems like 6 weeks, gave off a nice cool breeze.  (How 'bout that for a run-on sentence!)

Jake is quite the hiker.  After a brief "I can't walk any more" incident, he traipsed up and down all those steps.  A long way for those little legs to go in that heat.  He was a real sweatball, but he loves it.

When we got home, I grilled up some slices of stuffed tenderloin from Blooming Glen Pork as a quick dinner.  Have you ever had that?  Mmmm....pork tenderloin stuffed with sausage (we had country, but you can get sweet or hot Italian) and all covered in bacon.  Pork stuffed with pork wrapped in pork.  Oh yeah.  You may notice that we're once again eating squash--we're still overrun with them.  MB made some really tasty chocolate zucchini muffins, but that's for another time.