Good Morning Darlings!

Summer is here (To me, at least. Memorial Day = Start of Summer).

Are you grilling out this weekend? Need some ideas? I’m here to help!

My friends at Stubb’s Legendary BBQ are hooking us up with awesome tips (clean your grill with an onion?! check it out below) and a couple of coupons for $5.00 off any of their fabulous products. That’ll take care of your rub and sauce needs. Wait, that sounded bad..you know what I mean.

DIY sauce recipes: Kick the ketchup habit with some fun, easy and tasty DIY burger sauces that you can make with some items you might already have on hand.

• Mustard + Original BBQ Sauce: ¼ cup mustard to every 1 cup of BBQ
• Bang Bang Sauce: Mix together 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 3/4 cup Stubb’s Original BBQ sauce, 1 heaping tablespoon of hot sauce and either a tablespoon of honey or some brown sugar depending on what I am cooking.
• Spicy Mayo: ½ cup of mayonnaise and 3 tablespoons of Stubb’s Spicy BBQ sauce
• Not Just Basic BBQ:

o    For a sweeter BBQ sauce – add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 tablespoon honey to 1 cup of Original BBQ

o    To give your BBQ sauce a spicy kick – add habanero peppers to 1 cup of Original BBQ (add as many as you like depending on your level of spice)

Tips for Grilling your Meat:

• Start with a clean grill so your burgers don’t stick and fall apart. My tip is to use an onion to clean your grill. Cut the onion in half, and while the grill is heating up, rub the onion across it. The juices from the onion clean the grill and get it ready for use. Note: I DIE! How cool is this, y’all?
• Make a thumbprint in the middle of the patty before putting it on the grill. This will help the patty come our nice and flat (not puffy in the middle) and the meat will be cooked evenly throughout.
• Avoid burning or charring your meat by flipping it every couple of minutes. It’s a myth that you shouldn’t flip your meat! The hotter the grill, the more often you should turn it.

And some recipes to help you win that burger cook off. You go, girl!

Full Recipes:

1. Toasted Pecan Burger:

• Ingredients

–       1 pound ground chuck

–       ¼ cup chopped red onion

–       ¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted

–       1 tablespoon finely chopped green bell pepper

–       3 tablespoons Stubb’s Original BBQ Sauce

–       2 tablespoons Stubb’s BBQ Spice Rub

–       Lettuce, mayonnaise, and toasted buns, for serving

• Instructions:

–       Mix together the chuck, onion, pecans, bell pepper, Stubb’s Original Bar-B-Q Sauce, and Stubb’s Bar-B-Q Spice Rub. Shape into 3 large or 4 average-size patties. (The burgers may be mixed and shaped earlier in the day; refrigerate until ready to use.)

–       Prepare a grill for direct cooking. For a charcoal grill, when the coals are ashed over, rake or spread them out in the bottom of the grill so the food can cook directly over the coals. (For a gas grill, fire up the burners so the food can cook directly over the heat.)

–       Grill the burgers over direct medium heat, first on one side then on the other, 7 to 10 minutes, until they reach your desired degree of doneness. (Medium burgers register an internal temperature of 160°F.) Serve with lettuce, mayonnaise and toasted buns.

2. Stubb’s Fried Egg Burger with Spicy Mayo:

• Ingredients

–       ½ cup mayonnaise

–       3 tablespoons Stubb’s Spicy BBQ Sauce

–       2 lbs. lean ground beef

–       1/3 cup Stubb’s Texas Steakhouse Marinade

–       2 tablespoons vegetable oil

–       6 eggs

–       6 hamburger buns

–       Tomato

–       Lettuce

–       Blue Cheese (optional)

• Instructions:

–       In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and Stubb’s Spicy BBQ sauce. Set aside.

Using your hands, mix the ground beef and marinade. Divide meat into six patties.

–       Prepare the grill for direct cooking. Cook the burgers for 6-7 minutes on each side for medium doneness.

–       Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Crack eggs into skillet and cook until the whites are set but the yolk is still runny, approximately 3 minutes. If you prefer your eggs over easy, flip and cook for an additional 15-20 seconds.

–       Assemble the burger in the following order: bottom bun, lettuce, tomato, cooked burger, blue cheese (optional), then egg. Spread the spicy mayonnaise on the top bun and place on top of the egg.

3. Stubb’s Stuffed Burger: 

• Ingredients

–       2 lbs. ground beef

–       3/4 cup Stubb’s Original BBQ Sauce

–       2 tablespoons Stubb’s Beef Marinade

–       2 tablespoons Stubb’s BBQ Spice Rub

–       7 oz. can of nacho sliced jalapenos

–       3/4 cup shredded cheese

• Instructions

–       In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, Beef Marinade, and Bar-B-Q Spice Rub together with your hands.

–       Use about 1/3 cup of meat and press it into a thin patty with your hands. Top the patty with one tablespoon sliced jalapenos and two tablespoons shredded cheese, leaving at least a ¼” rim around the edge. You can adjust toppings per your taste.

–       Press out another thin patty. Place the second patty on top of the first patty and use your fingers to seal the two patties together well. Repeat another five times to make a total of six burgers.

–       Grill burgers over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes per side, flipping once during cooking. Baste with Stubb’s Original Bar-B-Q sauce during last 3 minutes of cooking.

–       Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings.

Okay – leave a comment and you might be one of the winners of those $5 Stubb’s Certificates. If you do not comment, I will use them all myself, make all of these burgers at my house and not invite you. And nobody wants that.

xoxo, Patti