The weekend calls for a burger, but not just any burger. Grilled slider served on a potato roll, with pickled bourbon peppers, an Italian-style sweet sloppy Joe sauce, topped with crisp sriracha slaw made with farm-fresh veggies, and a side of garlic kettle chips.
George's SLOPPY GIUSEPPE is a winning combination
Grilling a winning burger from the bun up takes time and the freshest farm-picked ingredients. For my SLOPPY GIUSEPPE, the peppers were farm-picked and pickled the same day, two months ahead of adding to my burger. I used a colorful mix of vine-ripen sweet and hot peppers, and the vinegary brine was topped off with bourbon for added zip. The Sloppy Sauce is a homemade sweetened Italian tomato sauce, and the slaw—is a mixture of crunch tossed at the last moment in a creamy sriracha dressing. With no compromise to the meat tossed on the grill, my signature special meat blend, and the only bun of distinction worthy for such honest “sloppy goodness’ is a soft potato roll.
SLOPPY GIUSEPPE BURGER
Makes eight quarter-pound burgers.
chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle
*Weight before cooking
1 3/4 pounds ground beef, short rib blend, 80/20 lean/fat ratio
3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Accompaniments: Potato Rolls, a mix of sweet & hot vinegar peppers, sloppy sauce, sriracha slaw,
In a 2-quart mixing bowl, combine the beef and sausage meat, then mix with a fork, taking care not to overwork the meat. Divide into 8 or 10 equal portions and form into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Use raw meat from two of the above-formed burgers for sloppy sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Sloppy Sauce
George Hirsch Lifestyle | chefgeorgehirsch.com
Makes about 2 Quarts or enough topping for 16 SLOPPY GIUSEPPE burgers.
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions, sweet red peppers
8 cloves fresh garlic, chopped fine
1 - 15 ounces each of Tomato Sauce & Tomato Puree
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 pint of IPA
1 teaspoon each dried basil and oregano
2 bay leaves
2 cups water
Preheat a saucepot to medium temperature. Add olive oil and two burger patties, browning lightly; add onions, peppers, and garlic. Cook for an additional 2 minutes; do not brown the vegetables. Add all remaining ingredients using water to rinse out any additional tomato sauce left in cans. Simmer for 45 minutes. Keep warm until topping burgers.
For Slaw & Dressing as seen on George Hirsch Lifestyle
Vegetables: 1 small head of shredded white cabbage, 1/2 head of shredded red cabbage, two grated carrots, 1/4 of a sweet onion, thinly sliced, two cloves of finely chopped garlic, and three chopped green onions. Mix 2 cups of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of sweet chili sauce, 1/4 cup of sriracha, 1/2 cup of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, pepper, and sea salt to taste. Add dressing to slaw thirty minutes before serving.
Preheat the grill to medium-high. Place the burgers on a hot grill and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, turning once.
Serve on lightly toasted Potato Rolls, first the peppers, then the burger, sloppy sauce, and slaw. Serve extra Sloppy Sauce on the side, accompanied by plenty of napkins.
Note: If you don’t see ground short-rib beef in your butcher shop, by all means, ask for it. Whenever you’re mixing any ground meat product, it’s a good practice to have the meat and bowl well chilled. Not only will a chilled bowl help reduce bacterial growth, but it will also aid in binding the beef. If possible, use a metal bowl for mixing the ingredients and place it in the freezer beforehand. If your kitchen is warm, place the bowl over a bowl of ice when incorporating the meat with the spices.
