Low Country BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake
Low Country-inspired, BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake. Crispy bacon lattice, a juicy burger, cheese, traditional grit cake, and barbecue sauce. Forget the bun, load your burger up with bacon, cheese, sauce, and grits!
I received complementary bottles of Budweiser’s barbecue sauces. I received no other compensation.
Low Country BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake
Why so fancy? Because Budweiser sent me serious booty to make recipes for their contest … so here I am making recipes for their contest. If all goes well, I will put out a couple more this week too, but first, I wanted a BURGER. And I really wanted to do something completely different too. In a couple ways, this burger is inspired by the vacation we just took in Charleston, SC, last week. Gouda grits on a culinary tour in Charleston, and bacon “weaves” on sandwiches in Savannah. And so here we are… I put both with a burger.
Since this is my first time with all these Budweiser sauces, I went with Classic Barbecue Sauce for this BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake recipe for safety. Kinda like dipping my toe in the water, but not fully committing to bold or spicy or smoky yet. And it is GOOD! Not overly sweet as most sauces are. So, score one, good sauce.
Score two is everything else, all together. Dangggg this is a good eat. Everything works together – the bacon, burger, cheese, creamy/crispy grit cake, smoked Gouda flavor, barbecue sauce – It All Works. And I had so much fun making it! You know, we all start food blogging as a hobby because we enjoy it, but then as we go along, some times are not so fun anymore. I enjoyed making up this recipe, enjoyed seeing how each bit came out, and I spent a whole evening in my kitchen, rocking to jams, making this come together.
So that’s it folks. This Low Country BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake recipe has a couple elements to make, but each is fully approachable and really straightforward. And the result is a fun, gourmet, hip, innovative burger that is DELICIOUS. Give it a whirl!
For my best steak recipe, check out Grilled Steak with Horseradish Dijon Sauce with all the tips for a perfect grilled steak.
Low Country BBQ Burger with Bacon Weave and Smoked Gouda Grit Cake
Ingredients
For the Smoked Gouda Grit Cakes:
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tbs unsalted butter
- ½ cup quick-cooking grits
- ½ cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese
- ½ tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
For the Bacon Weaves:
- 18 strips bacon cut in half to make 36 pieces total
- 1 Tbs barbecue seasoning see Notes
For the Low Country BBQ Burgers:
- 2 lbs chuck ground beef
- 1 Tbs barbecue sauce of choice plus additional for topping the cooked burgers
- 2 tsp minced onion
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- couple good pinches fresh cracked pepper
- 6 slices smoked Gouda cheese
- ¼ cup finely sliced green onion
Instructions
For the Smoked Gouda Grit Cakes:
- Bring the water and butter for the grits to a boil. Whisking constantly, stream in the grits. Reduce heat to medium and cook 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, and stir in the cheese and salt. Taste for seasoning. Spread Gouda grits into a 13x9 bake dish, sprayed with cooking spray. Put dish in the refrigerator to cool completely and firm up (~30 minutes).
- Once set, use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to cut 6 rounds. Dust each with flour.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large, nonstick pan. Add the cakes and gently brown both sides. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
For the Bacon Weaves:
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- On a rimmed bake sheet, lay 3 bacon pieces (each is a half strip of bacon). Use 3 additional pieces to weave the bacon and assemble a ~6x6-inch lattice. Repeat with the remaining bacon pieces to end up with six Bacon Weaves. Sprinkle barbecue seasoning over each.
- Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Flip (by this point the lattice holds together so it flips easily), sprinkle more seasoning, and cook 10 minutes until fully crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain fat and set aside.
For the Low Country BBQ Burgers:
- Heat grill to high heat.
- Combine the ingredients for the burgers and form into 6 patties. Put a dimple in each and spread each to keep them from balling up too much while cooking. Grill burgers 4 minutes per side or to desired doneness. Place a slice of cheese on each and allow to melt.
- On a plate, layer in the following order: bacon weave, burger topped with cheese, and grit cake. Drizzle barbecue sauce over and garnish with green onion. Yields 6 servings.
Notes
~✿♥✿~
