If you follow my blog, you know by now that I work with Good Cook quite often. They send products to several of us bloggers, we test them out, make a recipe and give feedback. I love kitchen products and I already loved the Good Cook products I owned long before even being a blogger so it was a no brainer to work with them. As I started thinking about this event, I discovered that most of my kitchen products are now Good Cook. No complaining here. I was able to toss or give away items that really didn’t suit me or was just poor quality. That being said, when I do recommend a product to you, it’s because I genuinely like it. And if I don’t like it but still post about it, I’ll tell you what I don’t like. It might be personal preface, it might be a defect or it just might be bad quality. So shall we get on with cooking? Good! 🙂
[Tweet “Summer grill favorite: Sweet & Spicy Stuffed Burgers”]
Good Cook sent me 15 products to use in a recipe and post about. When I selected my 15 items, I didn’t know what I was going to make but I went with what I could really use in my kitchen. One of the main things I picked was a stuffed burger press. I decided to make stuffed burgers. Now, I’ve never made stuffed burgers before but we do make a lot of hamburgers during grilling season so I figured hey, why not.
What’s a hamburger without bacon? We’re going to put some in the burger as well as top it off with some. So brown up a package of bacon. This time around, I used regular pork bacon but you can use turkey bacon if you prefer that over pork. I mentioned I like cooking bacon (turkey or pork) in my cast iron and I use these Good Cook stainless steel tongs to turn the bacon instead of a fork. These give a good 12″ of length between me and the bacon grease. Something I need. 🙂
While the bacon is browning, start slicing, dicing, shredding and chopping up your fillings. I’m using a Good Cook Utility knife to cut the cheese up into more manageable size pieces for shredding. I really like the serrated edge on this knife for coring and slicing up veggies.
Open up a can (yeah, I said a can) of crushed pineapple. Since this is going in the burgers, you want crushed instead of chunks. Drain the juice off with cheese cloth, a strainer or be like me and use a fat separator. We’re going to use that juice later so make sure you save it.
I love vibrant colors but I kinda killed it with the white plate! I admit it. I still have a great deal to learn about food photography. 🙂 And we have paper plates in the house because… we have no running hot water as my hot water heater is currently sitting in the living room (that’s for another post though).
These are small sweet peppers. You could use bell but I’m sticking to the “sweet” part and wanted the small sweet peppers. And yes, you’ll see me using several different knives because I was testing and testing means trying so… this lovely shade of green knife is Good Cook’s Nonstick Paring knife. Everyone needs a good paring knife. Just be careful. These little guys are sharp.
Dice, dice, dice. These are going in the burgers as well so the smaller the pieces, the better (otherwise it will be hard to keep the burger sealed). Everyone needs a good chopping knife and this is Good Cook’s Nonstick Santoku knife. Why did I go with their nonstick knives? Well, I already had their nonstick sandwich knife and really like it so I wanted to try their other nonstick knives. And lets face it, I like colorful and these knives are colorful. They also have their own sheath, which I like for safety reasons.
So who is coming over for stuffed burgers? 🙂 I got rid of the white plate. 🙂
Now for the sauce! I like to make sauces. Sometimes they turn out and sometimes they don’t. I’m pretty sure Chef Ramsey would have a fit at some of the things I try mixing in the kitchen, thus, I will never attempt to try out for MasterChef. 🙂 For this sauce, you need mayonnaise, bbq sauce (flavored might detract but it’s up to you), hickory liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce (say that 10 times fast), diced garlic and that pineapple juice from above.
Now you’re going to combine 1/4 cup mayo, 1/4 tsp liquid smoke, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 diced cloves of garlic and 1 cup bbq sauce. Combine.
I really like Good Cook’s 6pc Measuring Spoons and they are very sturdy. On the flip side to that though, the handles are bulky so they take up more space. Personal preference but there you have it. I don’t regret getting them. I like having two full sets and then the flip measuring spoon, I just prefer ones not quite as bulky.
Next, add in 1/2 cup pineapple juice. Stir it all together. Test it just to make sure you like it. I promise not to tell. 🙂 You can add more juice if you want it sweeter. It will make it more liquidy but it’s all about flavor.
Like Good Cook’s flip measuring spoon, they have flip measuring cups. I love these. I wouldn’t not consider them space saving because a cup is a cup but it’s nice to pull one out and have the option of using both sides. The the flip side (haha no pun intended), if you’re using one cup for dry and wet, you’d want to measure dry first and sometimes my brain doesn’t going in that order. 🙂
I also picked Good Cook’s Wood Basting Spoon and their Wood Turner. I love wooden utensils and these are awesome sturdy. I’m not sure how the turner would work as a turner as it’s pretty thick but I love how sturdy these are. I’m hoping to replace my plastic utensils with wood and stainless steel so these are a great start.
Add about 1/4 cup to your meat. You don’t want to add too much because the moisture will make it hard to seal the sides. Also add in some salt and pepper. Now, I like to use my hands to mix things like this but you can use a sturdy spoon.
Now here is where the burger press comes in handy! I’m sure you can do this without but this press definitely makes it easier. Put your first patty in, make the indent and sprinkle your fillings in. To keep it to the sweet and spicy, add in some pineapple, bacon, sweet pepper, a drizzle of the sauce and just a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Place the top patty on and press down.
I found that after I remove the stuffed burger from the press, I needed to press down the edges and press together. Unfortunately, holding a camera phone while working with raw meat isn’t really a great idea so I couldn’t capture a picture of what I did but if you don’t get it the first time, keep trying.
Cook your burger until it’s no longer pink. It had been a long day so I just cooked mine in my cast iron skillet rather than dragging everything outside to the grill. I know, I know. We’ll just leave it at that.
Since I’m using more stainless steel and cast iron, I decided to add some stainless steel utensils to my small collection. I picked the Touch Stainless Turner (pictured above), Touch Stainless Steel Basting Spoon, and the Touch Stainless Steel Slotted Spoon. I’m more than happy with all 3 of them. They’re sturdy, easy to clean and they’re shiny. 🙂
Serve up nice and hot. I added more of the sweet and spice sauce to the burgers once I made them up. Picture it just running down the sides. Now, if you’re making several burgers, you may want to double the sauce, otherwise, you’ll probably have enough for about 4 burgers. 🙂
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Kelly @ Practical Savings
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Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 diced cloves of garlic and 1 cup bbq sauce
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients together and use inside the burgers. Add more sauce to the top of the burgers or offer it on the side as a dipping sauce.
- Optional: Add in some crushed pineapple to make it chunky.
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