Mangia Mondays: Fried Green Tomato, Pimento Cheese Stuffed Burgers

Jeff & i were blessed to be invited into a Supper Club here in Charlotte by some of our close friends last Fall. It’s a wonderful, tight group of couples that we’ve grown to love so much. At each of the Club nights we’ve indulged in some of the most ah-mazing food & wine i’ve ever tasted. And Saturday night was our 2nd turn in hosting our close group of 10. I gotta say, it’s pretty intimidating and a lot of work. My hubby does not cook, he only grills, but he’s an excellent dish washer & food prepper thank God! Since it’s summer we decided to grill out but wanted to make a dish that was better than just a cookout burger of course. One of our fave restaurants in Jeff’s hometown Birmingham is Flip Burger Boutique. We’re not Top Chefs like Flip’s owner Richard Blais, but we used his ultimate burgers as the inspiration for our Fried Green Tomato topped, Jalapeño Pimento Cheese Burgers. And there may have been some bacon too....

Ingredients ~ 
Click here for My Jalapeño Pimento Cheese recipe

Burgers:

• 2 lbs ground Angus Sirloin
• 3 TB worcestershire sauce
• 2 TB garlic powder
• 1 TB bacon drippings
• 1 TB hot sauce
• 1 tsp cayenne
• kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Fried Green Tomatoes:

• Vegetable oil for frying
• 2 TB bacon drippings for frying
• 1 lg green tomato cut into ½ thick slices
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup self-rising cornmeal
• 1 cup AP flour
• 2 TB hot sauce
• kosher salt & freshly ground pepper

Toppings:

• bacon
• chipotle aioli
• caramelized vadalia onions
• arugala & baby spinach
• onion rolls

Directions~
Fried Green Tomatoes:
1.In a med skillet, add ¼ inch depth of veg oil and the bacon drippings to melt over medium heat.
2. Sprinkle the tomato slices with salt then soak in the buttermilk & hot sauce. 

3. In a small bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, salt & pepper. Dredge both sides of each tomato in the flour mixture. 

4. Add the green tomatoes to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 3-4 mins/side.

Burgers:
1. Prep your grill in whichever way you’re accustomed. Preheat to med-high temp.
2. In a medium bowl combine the Angus Sirloin & the rest of the burger ingredients.
3. Mix together well and form 4 thick (4 inch) patties. Grill the burgers, with the lid closed, for 5-6 minutes or until desired doneness.
*Note: If you’re stuffing the burgers with pimento cheese, form the patty around 1 TB of pimento cheese. Otherwise you can spread a dollop of the cheese on top of a warm burger.

To assemble the burgers:
1. Spread some chipotle aioli on each side of the onion roll. Add some arugala & spinach then top with a burger patty.
2. For unstuffed burgers, top with a dollop of pimento cheese. Next add some bacon, caramelized vidalia onions and finally a fried green tomato. Close it up with the top onion roll and serve immediately. 
*Note: This recipe makes 4 big burgers, but can easily be doubled or tripled to suit larger crowds.

So get creative! Add other toppings that suit your tastebuds, or make it any way you like. Just enjoy an ultimate southern comfort burger. And as my Mother-in-law says... Mangia Mangia y'all!