Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Burgers

We had some great Jalapeño Poppers at our Super Bowl party courtesy of our friend Eric from Yoder Smokers a couple of weeks ago.  I thought to myself; "These would be outstanding stuffed in a burger."  Here's my wild idea brought to fruition.

Here's the goodies for the filling (enough for two 1/2 lb. burgers):

3 Strips of Bacon, fried and crumbled
1 Jalapeño, cored and sliced into rings
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Onion and Chive Cream Cheese (the kind in the small tub)
Your favorite BBQ rub (I used John Henry's Brisket Rub for these)

Saute the jalapeño rings in the bacon grease for a minute or two.  You want them slightly cooked but still crisp, like a popper.  I use a Stufz Burger press to assemble my stuffed burgers.  Makes things much easier.  I filled up the bottom half of the burger with some shredded cheese, half the crumbled bacon, half the jalapeño rings, then a good smear of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle with some of the BBQ rub and top with the second half of the burger.  Grill it up or smoke it to your liking!  Here's what it looks like off the grill.

Mmm...burgers!

Check out all that popper goodness!

Party Pork Sandwiches

I recently had the great privilege of preparing the wedding rehearsal dinner for our neighbor's son and his fiancée.  His request for the main course was my recipe for Party Pork Sandwiches that has been a favorite for our family and his as well.  The recipe calls for marinating a pork tenderloin, overnight, then grilling it to perfection, slicing it and piling it high on a bun with a special sauce.  Here's the recipe.

Sauce:

2c                    Mayonnaise

2T                    Chives

1 ½ T               White Wine Vinegar

1 ¼ t                Ground Ginger

¼ t                   Salt

Pinch                Paprika

Marinade:

½ c                  Olive Oil

3T                    Ground Onion

3T                    White Wine Vinegar

¾ t                   Garlic Powder

½ t                   Chili Powder

½ t                   Oregano

For sauce, combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.  For marinade, combine all ingredients and pour over a 3 lb (or so) pork tenderloin that has been trimmed of fat.  Marinade for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Grill tenderloin over medium heat until done, turning every 15 minutes.  Slice meat and serve on bun with the sauce.

That's a lot of pork!

Marinating away.

Grillin' on the Yoder

I grilled these in two batches.  The Yoder got a great workout cranked up to 450 degrees for well over an hour to grill up all this pork, and the grill performed exceptionally. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the assembled sandwich with the sliced pork, sauce and bun.  They were consumed too fast!  I hope you give this recipe a try.  I'm sure you'll enjoy it!  Keep on smokin'!