Gumbo Burger

Pairs well with:

Pinot Grigio

You won’t need a bouquet of flowers when you share our Pinot Grigio. This crisp wine with floral aromas is a wonderful way to make an entrance.

I have spent my entire life in the south. Most of my childhood was spent just outside of New Orleans in Slidell, Louisiana. Growing up in Louisiana meant spending nearly all of my summer weekends with friends and family eating lots of crawfish, fried bream and gumbo.
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Ingredients:

1. Cheesy Creole Mayo
4 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil for roasting garlic
2.6 ounces of Boursin cheese with Garlic and Fine Herbs, crumbled
1 cup Mayonnaise, such as Hellman’s
1 tablespoon Creole Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon dry Creole Seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s

2. Okra and Tomato Relish
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, finely chopped
5 ounces grape tomatoes, sliced into fourths
5 ounces Mild Pickled Okra, drained, sliced and quartered with tips and stems discarded
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gumbo filé
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

3. Patties
1 125 g container “Success, Ready to Serve” white rice
1 cup finely chopped Vidalia onion
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound Andouille sausage, casings removed
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 packet instant brown gravy mix
1 teaspoon dry Creole Seasoning, such as Tony Chachere’s
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup water
Olive Oil for brushing on the grill
Crusty French bread cut into 6 inch long single serving portions or French bread buns, if not pre-sliced make sure to slice in half before using

Instructions:

To make the Cheesy Creole Mayo, preheat gas grill to medium high heat. While grill is heating, prepare the fresh garlic for the grill. Separate the bulb into cloves and peel 4 cloves. Place the 4 cloves onto a piece of heavy aluminum foil that is large enough to wrap around the garlic. To the garlic cloves add the oil and wrap the foil tightly around the garlic. Place the foil wrapped garlic on the grill for 20 minutes. Remove garlic from grill and place on a cutting board. Discard foil and allow garlic to cool for 5 minutes then using a fork mash garlic cloves. Place mashed garlic in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add to the garlic the Boursin cheese with Garlic and Fine Herbs which has been removed from the foil covering it comes in and crumbled into the bowl. To the bowl with the garlic and cheese add the Mayonnaise, Creole Mustard, Worcestershire Sauce, and dry Creole Seasoning. Stir all ingredients with a spoon until well blended. Tightly cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator or ice chest while preparing the rest of the burgers and until ready to assemble the burgers.
To make the Okra and Tomato Relish, peel and finely chop Vidalia onion. Place the chopped onion in a medium sized mixing bowl. Rinse but do not peel the grape tomatoes. Dry tomatoes with a paper towel and place on a cutting board. Slice grape tomatoes into fourths and place in mixing bowl with onions. Next, drain the Mild Pickled Okra and place on cutting board. Slice okra into 1/4 inch rings and then quarter the rings making sure to discard the tips and stems. After cutting all of the okra, place okra in the bowl with the onion and tomatoes. To the bowl with onion, tomato and okra add freshly squeezed lemon juice, cider vinegar, salt, gumbo filé, light brown sugar, ground allspice, ground cloves, and ground cayenne pepper. Stir all ingredients with a spoon until well blended. Tightly cover the bowl and place into the refrigerator or ice chest while preparing the rest of the burgers and until ready to assemble the burgers.
To make the patties, open container of “Ready to Serve” rice and place in a large mixing bowl. On a cutting board, peel and finely chop Vidalia onion. Into a small fire proof skillet add onions and butter and then place the skillet on the grill and sauté the onions in butter for 3 minutes stirring the onions often. Remove skillet of onions from grill and pour onions onto the rice to allow the onions to cool. Next, remove casings from Andouille sausage and place in food processor. Process the sausage until well ground. To the bowl with the rice and onions add the ground sausage, ground chuck, instant brown gravy mix, dry Creole Seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, and water. Stir all ingredients with a large spoon until well blended. Divide the meat mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties. Make sure the patties are made in a shape that will fit the buns.
To cook the patties, make sure the grill is preheated to medium high heat and brush with olive oil. Place the patties on the grill rack, cover, and cook, be sure to only turn once while cooking or the burgers will tear apart. Cook until done to preference, for medium done burgers cook 5-7 minutes on each side. The last 2 minutes of grilling place the buns cut side down on the outer edges of the grill to lightly toast. Remove buns from grill and place on a platter while assembling the burgers. Remove patties from grill and place on a separate platter then loosely cover patties with foil while assembling the burgers.
To assemble the burgers, remove the Cheesy Creole Mayo and the Okra and Tomato Relish from the refrigerator or ice chest and uncover both. Using a spatula, stir and then spread a generous amount of the Cheesy Creole Mayo on the bottom half and top half of the bread; place the patty on top of the Cheesy Creole Mayo on the bottom half of the bread. Then stir the Okra and Tomato relish. Once relish is mixed thoroughly, spoon a generous amount of the Okra and Tomato relish on top of the patty. Place the top bread on top of the okra and tomato relish and serve.
Makes 6 burgers