Peppercorn Blue Cheese Bacon Burger

September 27, 2014 by Kristi 26 Comments

What is your favorite burger?

This spicy, savory and juicy Peppercorn Blue Cheese Bacon Burger is covered in crushed peppercorns, then grilled to perfection and topped with a Blue Cheese Yogurt and crispy rounds of Pancetta.

Can I just tell you – today is like the greatest day ever.

A cool, crisp and brisk fall morning. The leaves rustling, as they fall listlessly from the tree.

It’s like poetry in motion. Fall. My favorite time of year.

This morning was sssooo beautiful, I just stood outside and let it sweep me in. Until finally, I grabbed a ladder and headed out to visit The Little Apple Tree That Could.

It didn’t disappoint. It graced me with another 11 pounds of apples (the same amount of bounty it gave me last week) and there are still >100 apples left on the tree. 🙂 best.tree.ever. <please send help!>

I’ve been a bit off from my regular post schedule this last week. Between pre-coordinating the blogger meet-up, attending the IFBC 2014 event and prepping the Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting for the virtual baby shower, it’s been crazy busy around here.

Are you ready to get back to your regularly scheduled programming? 🙂 I know I am!

But, before we get to this incredibly juicy and savory burger, let me share just a bit about IFBC. Friday night’s conference started with the Grand Opening Reception and Gift Suite, and my favorite gift was these huge canvas shopping bags, courtesy of WordPress.

I looooove these bags! They are so big, roomy and durable, they’re going to make grocery store trips sssooo much easier with their eco-friendly selves. I am totally stoked by these! Seriously. Thank you WordPress!

If you want to see more IFBC photos, visit my Instagram account. If you don’t follow me, you totally should! Go check it out. I’ll wait…

Another gift that I thought was really cool and very touching was a personalized apron from the kind folks at Aneto. They made embroidered aprons for every single IFBC attendee. Isn’t that the coolest?

Ok, let’s get on to the real meat of this post, shall we?

I replicated one of my favorite burgers that I order from one of our go-to restaurants (ssssshhhhh!).

And now, I’m sharing a very similar, but so much better, version with you. 🙂

Look at this dreamy bad boy. Big, bold, savory flavor with the crushed peppercorns, then topped with a rich, blue cheese yogurt sauce and rounds of crispy pancetta.

What’s so great about using pancetta in this recipe is that when you crisp it on the stove, it poofs up into darling crispy rounds that taste good and look awesome on your burger! Simply buy pancetta from your grocery store deli and ask for it thick cut. It makes an amazing difference.

Need I remind you of how much I am LOVING OPA Blue Cheese Yogurt? Ohmygoshyouguys – I want to bathe in that stuff! YUMMO. I first fell in love with it when I made the Easy Buffalo Shrimp Appetizer and I’ve been swooning ever since.

Ok, here’s a little tip on the peppercorns.. When you crush the peppercorns and put them on a plate, use a dredging plate with a lip around the sides. That way, you won’t have those pesky peppercorns rolling around everywhere getting into places you didn’t know you had. <recipe disaster flashback: Coconut Raisin Sorghum {Rice} Pudding> 🙂

And, you’ll want to grind them between a medium and a medium-fine grind. The finer the grind, the more that will stick. = how spicy do you want your burger!

FWIW, I typically use my coffee grinder, which makes quick work of it.

Doesn’t this just make you want to take a bite? I’m getting hungry!

Enjoy!

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