In-House Cook

Burger Love

My Double Chili, Double Cheese Bacon Burger

I LOVE hamburgers. Plain and simple. Although I think chocolate, pizza, tacos, and steak should be food groups, I am an even firmer believer that hamburgers should be, too. Ok, not that extreme. I just named off some of my favorite foods, except for Japanese and Chinese dishes, but I would fetch or roll over for a hamburger. A REALLY GOOD hamburger.

I have a million of them. Well, alright, dozens. With burger joints like Hodad's in San Diego cranking out A-Mazing burgers, along with Rachael Ray being the self-proclaimed "Queen of Burgers", I have non-stop inspiration. Being that I am a lover of ethnic cuisine, I have unlimited burger ideas flying around my inside my brain all day and all night. Here is one of them.

My recipe is very simple, very easy. Since this was a "What's in your pantry and freezer?" meal, there are not many ingredients, but here's the line-up:

1.3 pounds ground beef (but you could use turkey or chicken or pork, which would be great!)

1/2 of an onion, grated (I used a yellow onion, which is all I had on hand)

2 cloves garlic, grated
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 tablespoon Tapatio Sauce (You can use whatever your favorite hot sauce is!)

1 teaspoon ground cumin seed (or powder, whatever you have on hand!)

1 good pinch of Chipotle powder

1/2 cup cheese (I used a Mexican cheese, but that is what I had on hand)

2 cans fire roasted green chiles whole

1 can fire roasted green chiles, diced

4 hamburger buns (I had whole wheat buns on hand)

Remember, for me, this was a whatever was in the pantry and freezer recipe; it can be altered Any way you choose!

First, or last, whatever is better for you, fry up or bake up 8 - 16 bacon strips.

In a large bowl, I added the ground beef. Over that, I added the grated onion and garlic, and all of the other ingredients except the chiles and cheese. I mixed the meat, but not too much. I scored it into four parts. I separated each of the four parts in to two halves. I made two patties per burger: a top and a bottom part.

I added a teaspoonful of the diced green chiles and a pinch (about 2 teaspoonfuls) of cheese to the center of one patty, and placed the other atop it, and joined the two all around. I repeated the process until I had four burgers total.

I added the burgers to my cast iron skillet which had been heating up over medium-high heat. I let the burgers brown for about four minutes and attempted to flip. You must let the meat brown and release its sugars and juices so it gets a good crust going before you flip it so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Four or five minutes per side is adequate. After four or so minutes, after you have flipped the burger, add a half a palm full of cheese to the top of each burger. Squirt beef or chicken stock (or water, which is what I used) to the hot pan, place the lid over the top; the hot steam helps the cheese melt uniformly over the burgers. Now, I was being a cheese maniac, so I repeated the process so that the burgers were dripping with cheese.

Once the cheese has melted in to gooey goodness, remove the burgers and place them on a plate to rest. Top each burger with a whole roasted green chile. Place two - four bacon cooked bacon strips atop the burger. Place the burgers on toasted buns, add your condiments, and have at it!!!

Note: I made a garlic, chipotle aiolii as my burger bun spread. Simply add 4 tablespoons mayo and 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard to a bowl. Add one or two cloves grated garlic to the mayo, a teaspoon or two of grated onion, a splash of hot sauce or Worcestershire Sauce (I used both), and good pinch of Chipotle powder. Stir thoroughly, and allow the mixture to set in the refrigerator for thirty minutes. (I would have added lime juice to it, had I had any on hand).

Here is delish center view!