Sunflower seeds… in a burger? Only in Kansas.
Wyandotte County native Kathleen Stubler is hoping her all-local twist on the burger genre is a hit with judges at the 2008 Sutter Home Build a Better Burger contest.
Stubler, a long-time cooking competition contestant, is one of 10 finalists who will grill up their winning burger recipes during the cookoff, which will be held later this week in Napa Valley, Calif. The contest will eventually air on the Food Network, but probably not until next summer.
Although Stubler’s burger recipe uses local ingredients, it’s anything but traditional. In fact, it’s not even a true “burger” at all – it’s made from pork instead of beef. Her burger, called the
“Kansas City Barbeque Pork Combo Burger with Barbeque Bean Spread and Piccalilli Slaw,” is one of five entries in the Build a Better Burger contest’s “alternative” category. The other burgers in that category are made from chicken, swordfish, sausage and a crab-shrimp mixture.
Stubler is hopeful the Kansas City barbecue influences in her recipe will prove to be a winner.
“I wanted to focus on a regional burger,” Stubler told the Kansas City Kansan. “The first thing that comes to mind is Kansas City barbecue, so that’s the way I went.
“I tried to layer all the flavors of a complete barbecue meal onto a burger.”
Stubler’s recipe includes burger patties made of pork and ham, as well as a unique cole slaw mix and barbecue beans.
But while she was crafting the recipe, Stubler ran into a problem.
“How am I going to get the barbecue beans to stay on the burger?” Stubler asked herself.
“They’re just gonna fall off.”
So Stubler turned the beans into a barbecue bean spread – adding a unique element to a KC-style meal.
And those sunflower seeds? They’re in both the pork patties and the slaw.
Since the event is sponsored by Sutter Home Winery, the contestants were charged with pairing their burger with a wine. Stubler’s hearty burger is partnered with Sutter Home Zinfandel.
Stubler is an old pro at cooking competitions. The Kansas City, Kan., native and Wyandotte High School graduate has participated in the National Chicken Cook-Off twice, and she won a trip to Hawaii to participate in a pineapple cooking competition. So far, her biggest prize is $4,000 and a trip to Las Vegas for winning first place in an egg-cooking competition (she made an egg salad burrito).
But the top prize in the burger competition would blow that burrito right out of the water: the winner in the “alternative” category nets $10,000. And with the larger prize, the pressure is also cranked up: Stubler will be featured on national television for the first time.
Stubler, who says she’s a “self-taught” cook, believes her experience in food competitions will help her out in the burger event.
On the day of the competition, contestants will have three hours to make nine burgers from scratch – three burgers for judges, one for photographing and five more to cut up for audience samples.
“Three hours sounds like a lot,” Stubler said, “but that includes a lot of filming and interviews with the Food Network.”
Stubler said all the ingredients and equipment will be waiting for her when she arrives.
“I’m just going to go with the flow and hope that everything works out okay,” she said.
But Stubler is not going into the competition unprepared. She’s been practicing her recipe inside the kitchen and on the grill at her Piper-area home to the delight of family and friends, including her three children and six grandchildren. But her husband Ray is the most willing guinea pig for her cooking experiments.
“He’s real good about it,” Stubler said. “I get solid marks from him most of the time.”
Watch the Kansan for results from the competition.
