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What do you make with pork, avocado, mango, and red hots? Pork Taco Burgers with Red Hot Mango Pickles topped with avocado crema.

This epic burger is part of a fan-frickin-tastic month long event hosted by Girl Carnivore, but opinions are always my own!

This was next week’s burger. But, I got lazy and didn’t want to make the bun for that burger. I’m just going to try some squash chips instead. You’ll just have to stay tuned to see what I’m really talking about.

This burger is another Girl Carnivore’s Burger Month club burger. It was the ingredients for January. That was a crazy month of ingredients! We had to cook with pork, mango, avocado, and red hots. RED HOTS! Like the cinnamon candy? Except, for the life of me I couldn’t find them. Sort of like the fig for the Satay Burger with Tamarind Fig Peanut Sauce.

And we were going into Valentine’s Day ramp up. How in the world can Red Hots so hard to find for Valentine’s Day?? I searched every V-Day aisle at the grocery stores to find them. No go. Couldn’t find them at all. I finally found the in the regular candy aisle. Which I didn’t even know existed. But now I do.

Except what in the world do you make with red hots on a burger?

I was thinking of making a sauce for these Pork Taco Burgers. You can melt them and make a chutney or a ketchup. Some people did a vodka glaze I think? I can’t remember what the others made for the January, but I knew what I was going to make when I could find them.

I don’t know about you, but I remember those red apple rings. Cinnamon apple rings or red hot apple rings. Basically, you use the Red Hots as part of the sugar for a quick pickle recipe. I remember eating them when I was little. Those bright red rings of apple and cinnamon goodness.

Now, I did a little searching and couldn’t find a definitive answer to when red hot apple recipe came about. I do remember the cinnamon red hot applesauce recipes that started in the 60s. Maybe it’s a spin off from there? There’s also an Imperial Salad that calls for these hot cinnamon candies. I don’t know. I do know that cinnamon candies have been used in recipes since the late 20’s.

Red Hots the brand didn’t start until the 1930’s. Before that the cinnamon candies were just called cinnamon imperials. It wasn’t until an Italian baker realized that candy was more profitable than pastries. He started making candies like Red Hots and Lemonheads. These types of candies, called pan candies, get transferred to rotating pans. This is where they add other ingredients and flavorings. They get tossed in the pan until they reach their desired size.

Do not confuse them with Frank’s Red Hot sauce, red hot sausages, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I just thought I’d clear that up in case you got confused. Where was I? Oh right, red hot apples. Except I needed to use mangoes on this burger. So, what’s girl to do? Make red hot mango pickles! And let me tell y’all, these suckers are addictive!

I know, I say that about a lot of food, but I’m serious about these Pork Taco Burgers. I couldn’t help but nibble on them when I was cooking up the burger. The Red Hot cinnamon sweet flavor counters the slightly tart mango slices and the tart vinegar.

These Pork Taco Burgers are a killer flavor explosion in your mouth. Seriously.

I chose some mangoes that were not fully ripe. I wanted the sweet tart thing to go on with these pickles. And I figured ripe mangoes might not hold up the pickling process. These are softer than I thought they would be, and the mangoes were fairly hard when I sliced them. They had just a modicum of give when I pressed on them with my thumb.

I tried one before I put them into the pickling mix and they were smack your mouth tart. I knew the pickling mix would mellow that tart flavor out and leave the delicious mango flavor. This combined with the spicy cinnamon flavors makes these super scrumptious. I would totally snack on these ANY time. And I will be making more.

So, we have avocado pickles made with Red Hots. Now, just have to figure out the pork and avocado parts! Pork is easy. Pork burgers. Duh. But what to put with it? It can’t be just a simple pork burger. Oh no. It has to have Red Duck taco sauce and Blendabella Zesty Mexican mushroom blend in it.

 

Oh, yes I did.

I put that spicy taco sauce from Red Duck in these Pork Taco Burgers along with the zesty Mexican portobello mushroom blend. And they both make these burgers amazing. Seriously amazing. I can’t get enough of them eat them two days in a row at least amazing.

I would have had them today, but the hubs was going to be home close to dinner time so I had to make him something to eat. But the thought SERIOUSLY crossed my mind and I almost did have them again today.

The pork has a zesty flavor to them. The Red Duck taco sauce really adds a kick while the mushroom blend adds moisture and richness. Then there’s my own taco seasoning blend that I put in there, too. I couldn’t resist. I love my taco seasoning blend. You should try it! Speaking of which I need to make some more. I’m out.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I melted some Cabot Fiery Jack cheese on top of these Pork Taco Burgers? Yup! I did that, too. The cheese has a nice sharp flavor with a hidden heat you don’t feel until after you’ve taken a bite. It’s that sneaky kind of heat you don’t realized until it’s, “OH MY GOSH! My house is on FIRAH! Put it out please?”

 

Okay, it’s not that hot to me at least.

Since it’s shredded, I used a jar lid to make little circles of the cheese on top of the burgers. Then I put the lid on the pan and let them just rest and let the cheese melt. I couldn’t imagine a better a cheese on top of these flavor packed burger. Just sayin….

Oh yeah! I almost forgot about the avocado crema! If you’re not familiar with crema, I suggest you go out and buy a container right now. I’ll wait. Crema is like mascarpone and sour cream got together had a creamy, pourable, absolutely addictive baby. Okay, that just sounds weird. But once you taste it you will understand me completely.

Add that richness to the creamy avocado and you have a crema that brings all these flavors home into one amazing burger. It was messy to eat. Pork Taco Burgers are OH SO delicious. And I can’t wait to have the rest of them. Maybe on top of an English muffin that’s been coated with that delicious Cabot cheese. Because that’s how I roll.

There’s  a ton of killer burgers being shared this month. 

Make sure you follow #BurgerMonth or #BurgerMonth2019 to see them all.  There’s even some amazing looking keto burgers.  For those looking for killer low carb options.