Spicy Pork & Herb Chilean Chocolate Burgers

Woah. Woah woah woah... this isn't a pudding. Or a pie. What's it doing here?! 

Because it's got chocolate in it! 

That's right, it's from the Green & Black's cookbook, and with every chocolate cookbook the inevitable had to happen. Savoury chocolate food.

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But to be honest, this is one of the less strange ones. Chocolate coffee lamb, for example, was....weird. It's a shame I made that before I started blogging, but I highly doubt you'd want to try it (unless you do, in which case, go you!).

I had to modify this recipe slightly, as it was originally meant to be 'Spicy Organic Pork & Herb Chilean Chocolate Sausages'. I didn't see the organic, and I didn't even know what a sausage machine was, let alone owned one. 

Other changes I made were to use ready bought minced pork (much quicker), and omit the parsley (I mean, who wouldn't?). If there's anything I hate more than aubergines, it's parsley. Coriander on the other hand, now that's a completely different story...

So, after some small changes, these are 'Spicy Organic Pork & Herb Chilean Chocolate Sausages Burgers!'.

If you read that carefully, you'll notice that my version has an exclamation mark in it. Possibly to reflect that I! Was! Very! Excited! To! Make! Them!

I ended up freezing the burgers. Uh, to, you know, save them for another time. Like, those times when I'm really, really hungry.

This is what I used. And yes, I did eat that egg afterwards (with the runny yolk, yum yum). I know enough about cooking to know that you can't use a cooked egg to bind burgers.... can you?

Now, the onions were fried, the spices were chopped, the chocolate was melted. I was ready.

And oh, I do love my blender. But the reason why it doesn't have a lid may be because I may have possibly, um, blended the lid. By accident.

I swear it doesn't make a difference!

See, they look like cookies! ...Cookies that caught the plague!

Tastes like them too.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm kidding :) 

So, as you may have guessed, I'm not sure if I like these. I think by adding the chocolate it gave it a powdery texture and strange bitter taste. But I thought I'd share them with you anyway. And it's perfect weather for a barbecue right now, so you could try these as a change from the standard beef burger!

I've served them with a bean and avocado couscous salad, but you could just as well eat them in a burger bun with the usual stuff. I mean, if we've got chilli, chocolate and meat in there, why not go all out and have some cheese too? :) 

If you make this and make any changes, I'd love to hear about it! 

Lesson learned today: As popular as bacon chocolate recipes are at the moment, there may be a reason why it hasn't extended to burgers.

Spicy Pork & Herb Chilean Chocolate Burgers Adapted from the Green & Black’s cookbook Takes 40 mins to 1 hour Makes 6 large burgers 500g minced pork 2 sage leaves, chopped 1 teaspoon chopped coriander 1 teaspoon chopped thyme 25g unsalted butter 1 tablespoon oil 1 large red onion, finely chopped 1 green chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped 2 garlic cloves ½ teaspoon ground mace ½ teaspoon ground paprika ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (ground is fine too) ½ teaspoon ground cumin 90g dark chocolate (min 60% cocoa solids) broken into pieces Put the minced pork, sage, coriander, thyme in a bowl. Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan and sauté the red onion chilli peppers, ginger and garlic until soft, but not browned. Add the spices to the sautéed mixture while it is still hot. Cook together for a few minutes to release the flavor of the spices. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, suspended over  a saucepan of barely simmering water. (Or microwave in 30 second bursts). Add the onion and spice mixture and the melted chocolate to the bowl of pork and mix together well, seasoning with a good dash of salt and pepper. But in a blender or food processer and mix (but not too long or it will lose all texture). Shape the mix into 6 burgers and leave to chill the in the fridge overnight. To cook, heat a little oil in a large frying pan until smoking, add the burgers and sear on each side for 1-2 minutes, or until golden-brown all over. Transfer to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the juices run clear when they are pierced in the middle with a skewer and the meat is cooked through.