In June, I had the honor of being one in 15 chefs to compete in the Bull Burger Battle in Baton Rouge, LA at Goodwood Hardware. The competition was one of 5 cook-offs hosted by Bull Grills and the World Food Championships. The winner from each cook-off wins a trip to Vegas in November to compete on Team Bull for a chance to win $60,000!

Since it was also Father’s Day weekend, we made this a family trip and invited along my parents. Ashton was my assistant and Ava cheered us on from the sidelines with my parents! It was a scorching hot day but we kept cool in our patriotic themed tent complete with fans, prep area, coolers, camping chairs, beer (for Ashton for course), and my Dad’s grill. After a long day of interviews, meetings, prepping, and of course grilling we submitted our final anonymous burger for judging and crossed our fingers. Then we sat down with my family and chowed down on my juicy burger creation (you know I had to make extras).

My burger entry was a delicious creation aptly named The Southern Charm Burger. The patty was a mix of ground brisket, short rib, and ground chuck. I stuffed it with homemade Pimento Cheese, then topped with with sautéed Vidalia onions, thick cut bacon, fried green tomatoes, and spicy remoulade- all prepared on the grill! I originally used buttered Texas Toast but had to substitute fresh baked buttermilk buns from Whole Foods at the competition {oh boy they were so good!}. The final piece was an American Flag pic and a few pieces of pickled okra {for another Southern touch!}.

All in all, I was happy with what I put out. As a beginning griller, I learned everything I know about grillin’ from my Dad (gas grill and smoker) and my husband (charcoal all the way). I threw down with the big boys at this competition, competing against many local chefs and seasoned BBQ and Grilling champions. In the end, I didn’t win, or even place for that matter. But I had a blast and would do it all over again in a heartbeat {with a few changes next time}!
A Big Thank You to my partner in everything I do, Ashton, for supporting me, cooking with me, and for thinking my burger was the best one there! Thanks to my Dad, the original King of the Grill, for toting his grill all the way from Florida for the competition (Ashton’s was too big for us to fit in the car) and to both my parents for coming to LA for the weekend to support me and babysit Ava! We all had a blast!Scroll down for pics from the event and the recipe for my Southern Charm Burger! 

The man I love..he’s got his grill face on! 

Dad’s grill. Now, there was some debate on what grill to use. Unfortunately, the competition didn’t provide grills to use and you had to bring your own. Since we drove 3 1/2 hrs and had a packed car we couldn’t fit or tow Ashton’s massive charcoal grill/smoker. This was a bummer since this is the grill I had practiced on and was most familiar with. Also as many of the great grillers know, you get the best grillin’ flavor from charcoal. But his grill worked fine, was easy to use and control the heat (since it was gas), and was plenty large to cook multiple items at once.

All our supplies lined up and ready to go.

Decked out and ready to get our grill on!

My Mom and Ava cheering us on from the tent.

Swag bag from Bull!

It felt like 100 degrees out there. So glad Ashton brought our fan! 

My family…we love our free samples..and there were lots of them!

 Local chefs, Big Green Egg Grills, and Bull Grills served up burgers,sausages, jambalaya, pizza, and even had their own line of sauces! 

My little cutie in her matching patriotic attire cheering on Mama and Daddy!

Cast iron skillets are my go to for cooking, and grilling, just about anything! I brought a few different sizes with me to fry tomatoes, cook bacon, and melt pimento cheese.

And the competition starts….time to get grillin’!

Heating up the oil for the tomatoes and sauteing Vidalia onions. 

Molding my burgers with pimento cheese inside. 

Seasoned and stuffed and ready to go on the grill.

Let’s make these the best dang burgers they’ve ever tasted! 

Assembling my mighty Southern Charm Burgers!

A few last minute touches and Ashton cheering me on (already has a beer in his hand, ready to relax!).

Running to the judges booth with my entry.

And now we relax, have a beer, and wait for the judges to decide! 

1. Use real bacon. For my test recipes at home I used a good quality, thick center cut bacon, which came out perfectly crispy and delish on my burger. However, when I did my grocery shopping in Baton Rouge for the contest, I decided to change it up (bad idea!) and use bacon rounds from their meat counter. At the time I thought they would be perfect since they were round and would fit on the burger patty just right. Unfortunately, since I had never sampled the product, when I cooked with it, it turned out to be more like thin country ham and VERY salty. So stick with what you know and don’t change your mind last minute! 

I think this was one of my biggest mistakes!

 

2. If it’s a grilling competition use the grill more. Yes, I made everything technically ON the grill but really I used my seasoned cast iron skillets. Those do add flavor and for some items, like my fried green tomatoes and melted pimento cheese, I had to use a skillet. But I also choose to cook my bacon and burgers in the skillet. I finished my burgers on the grates and toasted my bread on the grates but next time I will cook more on the actual grill. 

3. Speaking of the grill next time I will use charcoal. Gas is easier and it was my only option this time since we couldn’t tow Ashton’s grill. But I think I was one of the only competitors using gas at the competition. That’s because everyone knows charcoal adds that great grillin’ flavor and smokiness. 

4. Don’t be afraid of changing the plans…a little. For my original recipe I used buttered, toasted Texas Toast instead of a bun. I loved it and I thought it fit perfectly with the Southern burger theme. The week before the competition, I called every bakery and grocery store in Baton Rouge to see if they carried fresh baked Texas Toast. No one did. Louisiana is more of a fan of poboy breads than Texas Toast. So I just decided to wing it (very unlike me) and see what Whole Foods carried once I got there. Their bakery ended up having fresh baked Buttermilk Buns and they worked out great! So next time, no stress and just go with the flow (on some things!). 

5. Don’t cut the burger. Now, I watch enough cooking shows, like Chopped, to know that when you are timed and you have those last 30 seconds to finish up, you rush and make decisions that you know are not smart. I decided, last minute, to cut my burgers in half and lay them in the box that we have to present to the judges. I was thinking, first my burgers were too tall and they would not fit standing up in the box and second, if I cut them they would see the burger was stuffed and all the beautiful cheese and sauce would look delicious. This did not happen. What happened was all the juice from my burger ran out and made it dry. Then from the time they get the boxes of 16 burgers to the time they actually taste them, the burgers get dry, cold, the cheese isn’t quite so gooey and melty, etc. There’s not much I can do about the wait time before the judges taste, but I think keeping the burger intact and holding those juices in there will keep them as moist and warm as possible. That was a big no-no on my part. 

 

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support!