BBQ Riburgers on Cheesy Garlic Bread

"Back to life. Back to reality."

As I'm back from our Month of Insane Travel, this song seems to be running on a loop in my head. Can anyone else relate?

Anyway, for anyone keeping track, I actually tried this recipe months ago. And it was fantastic! And I have several ways to make this a crazy quick meal! And then I forgot to tell you all about it!

Forgetting seems to be a theme in my life these days.

Not my clearest Final Product Shot but TRUST ME when I say this is good.
And really tall.

BBQ Riburger on Cheesy Garlic Bread
Recipe from Jeff Mauro
Prep time: 45-50 minutes  Cook time: 35 minutes

Chipotle Pineapple BBQ Sauce:
1 tbsp canola oil
1 clove of garlic, minced or grated
1/2 medium onion, minced (use a Vidalia if you've got it)
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup crushed pineapple with juice
3 tbsp molasses
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (remove the seeds before chopping if you don't want to melt your tonsils)

Ground Pork Riburgers:
2lbs ground pork
Kosher salt

Cheesy Garlic Bread:
1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup)
2 tbsp minced garlic
One 32-inch French loaf, split and halved
3 cups grated mozzarella (fresh is best if that works for you)

Dill pickles for garnish, optional

1. For the BBQ sauce: Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 30 seconds. Add the ketchup, pineapple, molasses, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire, and chipotles. Simmer partially covered, stirring often, until thickened, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Set aside.

Unless you like cleaning spots off your ceiling, cover the pot.

This smelled absolutely amazing.

2. For the burgers: Preheat a grill top or griddle to medium-high to high heat (yup, screaming hot to get that good sear). You can also use an outdoor grill, weather permitting, or the broiler if you don't care for a splatter-y mess on your stovetop (see below).

Cute little rectangles.

3. Form the ground pork into long, rectangular patties that fit the shape of the bread, keeping in mind that there will be two patties per half of bread. Season the exterior with salt and place on the hot griddle for 3 minutes. Flip and cook another 3 minutes.

The sear. Check out that SEAR!!

4. Turn off the heat and baste generously with the BBQ sauce. Flip and continue cooking for a couple more minutes, continuously flipping and basting the burgers.

Saucy!

In the interest of full disclosure, I make a mess when I cook.
All that white you see is grease splatter from cooking the patties.

5. For the garlic bread: Place the rack in the middle of the oven and set it to broil. Mix the hot, melted butter with the garlic and brush on the cut sides of the bread. Top with the mozzarella and place under the broiler just until the edges are lightly crisped, about 2-3 minutes.

Also full disclosure: I drink a little something when I cook.
I also put on music and dance around my kitchen while things simmer. Doesn't everyone?

Awaiting it's brush with garlic butter.

CHEESE 

It crossed my mind to just eat this for dinner and call it a day.

6. Sandwich Build: Place two burger patties on each bottom half of bread. Top with some pickles, if using, and the top half of the garlic bread. Slice each portion in half, yielding four sandwiches. And if the patties aren't saucy enough, serve with the remaining sauce. Or you can save that sauce for another night of riburgers.


Like so many other millions of high school students, I earned money for such essentials like green nail polish and future college textbooks by working at a local fast food restaurant. While there, they debuted a sandwich that is remarkably similar to this one. Except their version is revolting (my apologies to anyone who idolizes that sandwich). I remember holding my breath every time I had to walk past the container of hot BBQ sauce; yes, it smelled that nasty.

But my husband likes that sandwich. So when I saw this recipe pop up, I knew I had to give it a try. Not only did it actually sound appetizing, but it would be a sort of nice compromise. He gets his rib sandwich, but a tasty (& healthier!!) one that'd I'd make. And HO BOY are these good!! I love, love, love every part of this sandwich. I love the smoky, sweet, tangy-ness of the sauce. I love the simplicity of the burger patties themselves (meat and salt...for real? That's it?!?). And I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhve the cheesy garlic bread. Oh. My. Word. Buttery, cheesy, garlicky deliciousness!! Put it all together with some good dill pickles and I'm literally drooling on my keyboard right now. Oops, sorry Computer.

Now, for anyone looking at this recipe and thinking "no way on God's Green Earth am I going to deal with all those ingredients all at the same time after a long day at work. Are you kidding me Jeanna?!" Well, I have three words for you. Get Ahead Options:

• Make the sauce ahead of time. Make it a day, a week, or six months ahead of time if that floats your boat. You can freeze it or, if your freezer is packed, can it. Personally, I think this one sauce recipe is more than enough for two nights of sandwiches. I canned the leftover sauce when I first made this and it has been sitting happily on my basement shelf just waiting for a night where I'd like to make this again. Easy peasy!
• Make the patties ahead of time. Even though the patties don't require much time, this one can actually be a time and money saver. Buy the ground pork in bulk and make up the patties right away to freeze (wrap them individually in wax or freezer paper first). Then it's a simple matter to pull out the number you want to cook up to thaw while you're at work. Again, easy peasy.
• Even if you're one of those "I make everything my family eats myself"/Martha Stewart-types, I still highly recommend buying your favorite French bread. For this, we bought several loaves of bread from our favorite Italian restaurant and froze them. So when I made this, I pulled out enough for our little family and quickly made up the garlic bread.

Put all these Get Ahead tips together and you could seriously be eating these sandwiches in about 10 minutes. So what are you waiting for?!