Closet Cooking

Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Cuban Burgers

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Cuban Burgers

My next concept burger experiment of the summer is inspired by the cuban sandwich consisting of roast pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and/or mayonnaise. Given that the primary meat in the sandwich was pork, using ground pork to form the patties only seemed natural. Very often the roast post for the cubano sandwich is seasoned with mojo so and I included some of the flavour elements from mojo seasoning in the burgers including garlic, cilantro, lime, oregano and cumin. With that the cuban burgers were pretty much done.
One of the things that I like so much about burgers is that it is pretty much as easy as mixing a few ingredients into the ground meat, forming patties and then throwing them on the grill for a few minutes. Another thing that is nice about burgers is that even though you can make the patty itself super tasty like this one, you don’t need to stop there as you can continue on and fill the bun with even more flavours. In this case I added the sliced deli ham along with some melted swiss cheese, the pickles and some mustard. I added one final, not so secret ingredient, a roasted garlic mayo that I had made for the side that I served with the burgers and it really took them over the edge adding to an already amazing flavour combination!

Cuban Burgers

Cuban Burgers

Prep Time:10 minutes Cook Time:20 minutes Total Time:30 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1 handful cilantro (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
  • 4 cloves roasted garlic (mashed)
  • 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 4 teaspoons dijon mustard
  • 4 hamburger buns
  • 8 slices swiss cheese
  • 4 slices smoked ham
  • 8 slices dill pickle
directions
  1. Mix the garlic, cilantro, lime zest, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper into the pork.
  2. Form the pork into 4 patties about 3/4 of an inch thick.
  3. Grill (or broil or pan fry) the burgers until cooked, about 3-5 minutes per side.
  4. Mix the roasted garlic and into the mayonnaise.
  5. Assemble burgers and enjoy.
Similar Recipes:
Cuban Sandwich
Cuban Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Roast Pork and Peameal Bacon Sandwich
Salsa Verde Turkey Burger
Roast Pork Sandwich with Apple Chutney
Jamaican Jerk Burgers with Pineapple and Banana Relish
Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce
Cuban Mojo Grilled Pork Chops
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  14. Anonymous says

    July 22, 2010 at 10:37 am

    these do look so great…and I also love the ham topping… I'm planning to make turkey burgers this weekend for a party so will check back in with recipe and results x

    Reply

  15. Patty says

    July 22, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    Goodness gracious! This burger looks absolutely amazing! I was surprised that you were able to find ground pork – is this something you ground on your own? Am I crazy? Because I just don't remember ever seeing ground pork (unless it is a sausage) in my grocery store. Would the butcher do this for me? Thank you!

    Reply

  21. Twin Tables says

    July 22, 2010 at 7:34 pm

    Seriously, can you stop posting recipes that make me drool on my keyboard. I don't know how much more my keys can take before they short out! Thanks! 🙂

    Reply

  24. Kevin says

    July 23, 2010 at 1:41 am

    Patty: If you cannot get the ground pork at your grocery store I am sure the local butcher would make some for you. I guess I am lucky in that most of the local grocery stores carry it and the local butchers have it all the time.

    Reply

  25. Nina the Internet sleuth says

    July 23, 2010 at 10:28 am

    Kevin I just discovered your blog (I was looking for a good picture of Nutella crepes!) and it is AWESOME!
    I love cooking but I also have a very, very small kitchen 😀
    Thanks for sharing your recipes with us, you are amazing!!

    Reply

  28. OTA Mom says

    July 23, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    Just discovered your blog and am enjoying going through the archive. I love that you do all original recipes and the photography is great, plus it is not dessert-oriented, which so many blogs are. Yours really makes me want to branch out and try some different ethnic cuisines. A question: what would you suggest I use in place of harissa, which is not something our local stores carry here in small town ND. My daughter has had a reaction to spicy Chinese food in the past and we haven't pinpointed the exact spice that caused it, so I mainly stick with red peppers and red pepper flakes, which are safe for her. Do you think that would be a suitable substitution? I'm specifically looking at the Moroccan tagine recipe, which I would like to try since those fruits are now available. Thanks!

    Reply

  38. Alex says

    September 3, 2010 at 2:49 pm

    A cuban sandwich is my tied for my #1 favorite sandwich (muffaleta being the other). I made these burgers a few weekends ago and they were great. I went a little heavier on the lime zest and I also added some grapefruit zest. These burgers were juicy and flavorful. The pickles and mustard are a must to accompany these great burgers. Great recipe.

    Reply

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