Pork Pear Blue cheese Burgers
It has been an exciting six months of the Chellzkitchen partnership with Mascom My Surf,which brought about a virtual show with special guests cooking up a storm for their viewers. The concept sought to encourage individuals to take to the kitchen and be encouraged to make the dishes the guests would create.
Additionally, the execution was an interview platform. A Q & A process was produced and this brought the viewer’s closer to the guests in an intimate setting unlike the usual. They welcomed us into their homes and into their kitchens. The kitchen is by far one of the most sacred spaces in a home and we got to spend time in these spaces. The six episodes spanned over the six months. All episodes are still available on the Facebook Chellzkitchen page. The season finale had to be different, a special end to the first season of an amazing initiative. We had a two for one special in that our guests were legendary duo Jonny Pula and Triccs. The two are comedians who came together to bring Batswana a fresh comedy in the form of a satirical sketch show called the Jonny Pula and Triccs show. The live show airs every Thursday evening and they wrap up with the week’s news and issues in an intellectual and comical manner.
Having the two in the kitchen was, as expected, full of laughs and thus the meal had to be a mouth full to pronounce; Pork pear blue cheese burger (say it slowly…lol). Both Jonny and Triccs claimed to be familiar with the kitchen and continued to take jabs at each other about everything. Their innate bravado was truly nothing short of entertaining.
On the menu were burgers and salad. Not an ordinary burger or salad. A pork, pear burger with a delicious homemade Nutriday blue cheese sauce and a side of Mexican corn salad. Unusual flavours came together to create magic. The blue cheese sauce brought on both positive and negative comments. It is quite a poignant cheese and thus is a little intimidating. However, one of my favourite things about food and being in the kitchen is trying out new foods and flavours, being daring. I believe Triccs converted and can now appreciate blue cheese, which in his words (tastes like feet). Triccs!! You still haven’t answered the question everyone had for you; Ne o ja maoto a ga mang, kae, to know how feet taste? Blue cheese or bleu cheese is semi-soft cheese made with cultures of the mold Penicillium, giving it spots or veins of the mold throughout the cheese, which can vary in colour through various shades of blue and green. This carries a distinct smell, either from that or various specially cultivated bacteria.
Nonetheless, it’s an interestingly tasty cheese when used right.
Ingredients
1 x 500g pack pork mince
1 small pear, cored and grated
1/4tsp paprika ground black pepper and salt (for taste preference)
1 tsp brown sugar (dark or light)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 tbsp Willow Creek olive oil, plus extra 1 tsp
Splash of Apple cider vinegar or lemon
2 onions, halved and roughly chopped 1/2 tsp soft Brown sugar
4 buns, split horizontally
Sauce
4 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tbls Nutriday plain yoghurt Splash lemon juice Crumbled blue cheese
Wild rocket or watercress
Instructions
Combine the pork mince and grated pear and spices in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Divide into 4 and shape into burger patties with wet hands. Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until deeply golden in places and softened. Add the sugar and a splash of apple cider vinegar, turn the heat up to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until the onions are sticky and golden. Lightly rub olive oil over the burgers. Put the burgers directly onto another pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Flip over and cook for another 3 minutes or until the burgers are cooked all the way through. If they are colouring too much, move them to a cooler part or turn the heat down. Remove to a plate to rest. Toast the cut sides of the buns on the pan for 1-2 minutes, until lightly browned. Spread blue cheese sauce over the bun bases and top with rocket leaves. Add a burger Pattie, blue cheese sauce and a generous spoonful of onions, serving any leftover onions alongside the burgers with some extra rocket.