He’s better than the best burger guru

As avid Packer fans, we thought we’d seen it all when it came to pre-game tailgating.

Then we met Kris “the Burger Guy” Hutchinson and we found a bunch of new ways to feast. Creator of the “Hutch Method” of cooking burgers, Kris rolls up to his south-facing spot in Miami’s Sunlife Stadium parking lot just after they open the gates. He packs a full grill attached to the tailgate of his truck, an industrial-sized fan, and an excellent burger book, written by him.

This past Sunday, he served a burger topped with fried plantains and chimichurri sauce that made our mouths weep for joy. (It may have been drool, but weeping sounds cooler. That’s our story, anyway, and we’re sticking to it.)

We bought his burger book lickity split, and dreamed about which one we’d whip up first. It turned out to be the Lower Latitude Burger, which we fired up Wednesday night. The little fellas ended up tasting like a quick trip to Florida, which seemed about right.

Here’s the recipe and here’s the link if you want to buy the book on Amazon. Hutch recommends the electronic version so you have the ingredient list handy in your smart phone.

Lower Latitude Burgers

2 lbs. ground beef (I used fresh ground pork because it showed up unexpectedly in the grocery store meat section and I thought it would be cool to try.)

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 jar of Newman’s Own Mango Salsa (You just need a teaspoon per burger though, so there will be plenty left over for chips).

6-8 slices of fresh pineapple

6-8 King’s Hawaiian buns or rolls

Honey butter

1 grated apple

Mix the meat with the bread crumbs. I added a grated apple to this mix because I’d never grilled ground pork before and I worried it would dry out. Form the meat into patties, Hutch is an advocate of the burger patty press for uniform cooking. I’m going to look into purchasing one. For these little guys, though, I just eye-balled the size. I couldn’t find Hawaiian buns, so I used the rolls, which made my burgers sliders.

Grill the pineapple slices about a minute each side on a hot grill at the same time you grill the burgers to your desired temperature. I’m a little pork paranoid, so I was extra cautious that the meat didn’t touch the fruit on the grill, and I cooked the burgers well.

Remove the pineapple and burgers from the grill. Slather on a little honey butter and toast the buns on the grill.

To assemble, put a slice of grilled pineapple on a toasted bun. Add a little salsa and top with the grilled burger.

Yum-my!