Gourmet Pork Burgers – Great Tastes of Manitoba

Ingredients

Pork

1 lb (0.5 kg) lean ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ cup (125 mL) fine dry breadcrumbs
½ tsp (2 mL) EACH salt and ground black pepper
¼ - ½ tsp (1-2 mL) ground sage (optional)
4 hamburger buns, sliced and toasted
2 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
¼ cup (50 mL) crumbled blue cheese

Maple Dijon Glaze

¼ cup (50 mL) maple syrup
2 Tbsp (30 mL) Dijon mustard

Caramelized Onions

1 Tbsp (15 mL) EACH unsalted butter and canola oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced into thin rings

Method

In large bowl, gently combine ground pork with garlic, mustard, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper; do not overmix.
Form mixture into 4 large patties. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In small bowl, whisk together maple syrup and mustard. Set aside.
To caramelize onions, melt butter with oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft and golden, 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Preheat barbecue on high; reduce heat to medium. Grill patties 7-9 minutes per side or until instant-read thermometer registers 160°F. Brush patties with Maple Dijon Glaze with each turn.
To assemble, place patty on bottom half of bun. Top with apples, caramelized onions and blue cheese. Cover with top half of bun.

Tips

For better burgers, use gentle hands to mix and form patties that are consistent in size so that they all cook at about the same rate. Make a thumbprint indent in the centre of each patty to help prevent ‘patty puffing’ while grilling.