Mike's Hard Black Cherry Barbecue Burger

Ingredients

• For the Black Cherry Barbecue Sauce
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ½ medium yellow onion, cut into small dice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup ketchup
• ½ cup frozen pitted cherries, roughly chopped
• ¾ cup Mike's Hard Black Cherry Lemonade
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
• ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• For the Garlic-Butter Mushrooms
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• For the Horseradish-Mayo Lettuce
• ½ head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced into ribbons
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• For the Patties
• 2 pounds ground beef
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
• ⅓ cup cream of mushroom soup
• 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• ½ tablespoon soy sauce
• One 1-ounce pouch Lipton's onion soup mix
• For Assembly
• Black cherry BBQ sauce
• 1 cup blue cheese
• 8 potato hamburger buns, toasted
• 16 slices cooked black pepper bacon
• Garlic-butter mushrooms
• Horseradish-mayo lettuce

Directions

1. Make the barbecue sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes more. Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 30 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Meanwhile, make the garlic-butter mushrooms: Light a grill, or alternatively heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine the garlic-butter ingredients and toss to coat. Lay out a large square of aluminum foil on a clean surface and add the mushrooms in the center, then fold over the foil to form a closed pouch, crimping the edges to seal. Place the pouch onto the grill and cook until the mushrooms are tender and the garlic is fragrant, 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
3. Make the horseradish-mayo lettuce: In a large bowl, combine all the horseradish-mayo lettuce ingredients and mix until incorporated, then set aside.
4. Make the burger patties: In a large bowl, combine all the patty ingredients and mix until incorporated. Using your hands, shape into 8 even patties.
5. Assemble the burgers: Put the patties on the grill and brush the top of each with the BBQ sauce. Cook, flipping once and brushing with more BBQ sauce, until charred and medium rare, 3 to 4 minutes per side. After flipping, sprinkle the blue cheese crumbles over the tops of the burgers to let melt slightly.
6. Divide the bottoms of the buns between plates and slather each with BBQ sauce. Place a burger on each bun then pile some garlic mushrooms and lettuce on top. Place the bun tops on each burger and serve.