Too good to feel any guilt

Maple-Barbecued Pork Burgers
The Bon Appétit Cookbook Copyright 2006

8 ounces pork sausage (preferably hot breakfast sausage) I used Bob Evans Zesty Hot
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper

2/3 cup bottled barbecue sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 onion rolls, split
1/2 cup purchased coleslaw

I used 1 pound of hot breakfast sausage and 1 medium green pepper and made 4 burgers. I did NOT double the sauce - this makes plenty for 4 burgers. I used non-onion rolls and homemade coleslaw.

Gently mix sausage and green bell pepper in medium bowl. Form into two 1/2-inch-thick patties. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Whisk barbecue sauce, maple syrup, and vinegar in medium bowl to blend well. Reserve 1/3 cup sauce to baste patties.

Grill rolls until lightly toasted. (I didn't grill the rolls.) Transfer to 2 plates. Grill patties 5 minutes. (I used my Griddler.) Turn patties over. Brush with sauce. Grill until cooked through, brushing occasionally with sauce, about 5 minutes longer. I would wait until the burgers are completely cooked before brushing on the sauce since the sauce burns easily. Place burgers on bottom halves of rolls. Top each burger with 1/4 cup coleslaw and top half of roll. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.
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I thought these were awesome. I loved the heat, loved the sweet. I'm a huge fan of coleslaw on sandwiches. This burger was just what I like.

They reminded me of a Rachael Ray burger but they were a bit less work. Which reminds me - it really bothers me when people lump Rachael Ray with Sandra Lee and other shortcut cooks. RR is fast but she doesn't use a lot of convenience products. She would have built the sausage from scratch and the coleslaw from scratch. I did actually make my own coleslaw since I had some cabbage in the produce bin that I needed to use up anyway. I winged it but I basically made this recipe.

This is one of those meals that you can pick up the ingredients for on the way home and have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. It's something a little different than your average hamburger. If I were the perusing the supermarket for a quick dinner, it wouldn't have occurred to me to pick up breakfast sausage.

Of course, this is a once-and-a-while kind of recipe. Although these didn't look that fatty when I cooked them, it is pork sausage and not something you want to make a regular part of your diet. But if you're going to eat something bad, make it something good like this.

If you're not into pork sausage, I don't see why this recipe wouldn't work with turkey breakfast sausage if you can find some in loose form or in large link form (you can remove the sausage meat from the casings). I've only seen the small links around here and it would take all the fun out of this recipe if I had to remove all those casings.

Question of the Day: What do you think of Daylight Saving Time? Do you think the person who came up with the idea had small children? I think not.