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Christie Vanover, Chief, Command Information

Forget bacon-wrapped shrimp. This slider made with shrimp, bacon and poblano peppers is mouthwatering. It’s sandwiched in an earthy corn whole wheat tortilla and a butter garlic lime aioli.

Over the weekend, a foodie friend of mine challenged me and a few others to a virtual burger throwdown. This isn’t just any foodie friend – he happens to be an official Char-Broil All-Star. This guy knows how to make a burger.

Ready to compete, I opened the fridge and saw a two-pound bag of shrimp that had been begging for me to cook it. I had been stumped the past two days on how I could make something different. Burgers were the last thing on my mind, because past seafood burgers I have tried are dry.

They usually lack texture and flavor and are overshadowed by bready buns.

I wasn’t ready to quit, though. I kept searching through the fridge and found a pound of bacon and a poblano pepper hidden in the back of the veggie drawer. I was onto something here. Bacon would surely juice up this burger.

I cooked the bacon in the oven for about 15 minutes. I didn’t want it crispy, but it needed to be somewhat cooked. Shrimp only takes a few minutes to cook. If I would have used raw bacon in the patties, either the shrimp would end up overcooked, or the bacon would still be raw.

I peeled and deveined the shrimp and tossed it in the food processor to grind it up. Then, I did the same thing with the partially-cooked bacon. I took the stem off the poblano and seeded it and tossed it in the food processor to mince it up, as well. Then, I minced some red onion and garlic.

At first, I thought that I should sauté the onion and garlic for more depth of flavor, but it occurred to me that the crunch of the onion would help this burger have a little more texture.

Next step was seasoning the patties. I usually put soy sauce in my burgers, but for this recipe, I used ponzu sauce. Ponzu sauce is soy sauce with a hint of lemon and orange juice. Citrus goes great with seafood.

Finally, I added the zest of half a lime and salt.

Before making all the patties, I needed to taste test my flavors. You don’t want to eat raw shrimp, so it’s best when making any kind of burger or meatball to make a small patty, cook it and then taste it. You can adjust the seasonings from there, if needed.

I cooked one patty in a pan with a little butter, and it was spot on. Since I was grilling these, I still wanted the butter taste, so that’s when I decided to add some butter to the patty mix. Why not?

You could stop at this point, add a little ailoi and still have a great appetizer, or you can continue on for something even better – something that might win a throwdown challenge

I looked around the kitchen for bun options. Past seafood burgers I’ve had are more bun than burger, so I decided on corn whole wheat tortillas, because I knew they would be light and earthy.

I cut out two rounds for each patty using a round cookie cutter.

Next step, the aioli. Aioli is a fancy name for garlic mayonnaise. I love shrimp with garlic butter, so that was the start point. You could make this from scratch with olive oil and raw eggs, but to be on the safe side, I used prepared mayonnaise. Then, I mixed in a little lime juice and a pinch of heat.

All the ingredients were ready. The patties were made, the tortilla rounds were cut and spread with aioli and some fresh tomatoes were on the sideline.

I had a few grilling and assembly issues at first. I tried to include a slice of tomato on the patty during the grilling process, and God rest their souls, a few slipped through the grates when I performed the flip. When I made one burger at a time, it was easy to work with, but trying to flip 10 before the first one overcooked was too challenging.

I finally realized it was easier to add the slippery tomato at the end, off the grill.

So, I grilled about 10 patties for three minutes on high. Flipped them and grilled for another three minutes. Then, I added a tortilla round flipped them again, and without hesitation, added the other tortilla round and flipped it one more time.

You want the tortillas to cook for about 30 seconds to bring out their earthiness, but you don’t want them to burn. Then, slide that tomato under the patty, and you’ve got yourself a shrimp bacon slider.

We never announced an official burger throwdown winner, but I was happy with how this turned out and am now a converted seafood burger lover. In this fun foodie world, anything’s possible.



Shrimp Bacon Sliders

2 lbs. shrimp

8 slices bacon, partially cooked

1 poblano, seeded

¼ cup red onion

1 clove garlic

1 T. ponzu sauce

zest of ½ lime

½ tsp. kosher salt

2 T. butter, softened

8 Artisan Corn & Whole Wheat Tortillas

3-4 tomatoes, thinly sliced

(optional)



Garlic Lime Aioli

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 T. butter, softened

juice of ½ lime

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. garlic powder

pinch of cayenne (optional)



Directions

Peel and devein the shrimp. Separately process the shrimp, bacon and veggies in a food processor, until the meat is ground and the veggies are minced.

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl, and add the ponzu, lime zest, salt and butter.

Shape the mixture into 20 slider-sized patties.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut 5 rounds out of each tortilla. You should end up with 40 rounds.

Combine the aioli ingredients, until smooth and spread on each tortilla round.

Light the grill on high. Prepare the sliders in batches by grilling 10 at a time. Place patties on a hot grill for 3 minutes. Flip. Grill for 3 more minutes.

Place a tortilla round, sauce side down on top of each patty and flip. Grill for about 30 seconds.

Place another tortilla round, sauce side down on each

patty and flip. Grill for about 30 seconds.

Remove from the heat and add a tomato slice under the patty. Serve immediately.