TEX-MEX BURGER (WITH BLACK BEAN GUAC)

Well, dear reader, we've reached the fourth and final recipe in this little series from my burger test kitchen: the Tex-Mex. In keeping with my "international" theme, I probably could've branched off the continent for my final burger. But seriously, who can turn down Mexican food?

In case you've missed the other recipes from the test kitchen, you can find them here:
The Greek: Spinach-Feta Lamb Burgers (with garlic-dill yogurt sauce)
The Moroccan: Moroccan-Style Burgers (with spiced ketchup)
The American: Bacon-Apple Blue Cheese Burger (with sweet and tangy mayo)

This Tex-Mex burger is a perfect marriage of Mexican and American good-time foods. Mix ground beef with green chiles and steak sauce, then top the burgers with a spicy and refreshing guac. Perfection, I think. I placed this burger in second place, after The American. One of my taste testers placed it first, but in a tie with the American.

Here we go: The Tex-Mex.

Tex-Mex Burger with Black Bean Guac

Burger portion of this recipe adapted from KraftRecipes' Texas-Style Burgers.

Makes 8 sliders (or 4 regular-sized burgers).

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup steak sauce
1 small can (4-oz.) chopped green chiles
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
sliced pepperjack cheese
1 recipe black bean guacamole (below)
hamburger buns for serving
romaine lettuce for topping

Combine beef, steak sauce, chiles, and seasoning salt. Form into 4 equal patties. Cook over medium-high heat on non-stick skillet until desired doneness. Just before burgers are done: top with slices of pepperjack cheese, reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook until cheese is melted.

Serve on buns with lettuce, tomato, and black bean guacamole.

Black Bean Guacamole

1/2 cup black beans
2 large avocados
1 lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Cut avocado in half lengthwise and remove seed. Using a large spoon, scoop the meat out of the skin.

In a small bowl, mash black beans and lime juice loosely with a fork. Add avocado, salt, cayenne, cumin, and garlic. Mash together until avocado is smooth. Stir in tomato, onion, and cilantro.

For the most flavor, cover and let sit 30 minutes before serving.

Note: Don't omit the lime or cilantro. Both will balance out the spiciness, and lime will delay the avocado from browning.

BACON-APPLE BLUE CHEESE BURGER

Welcome back, dear reader, for number THREE in the 4-part burger test kitchen series. Number three, the burger I so lovingly dubbed "The American," features a beef/Italian sausage burger stuffed with apple slices and blue cheese, then topped with bacon, more apple slices, and a honey-mustard-mayo.



If you missed the first two burgers, you can check them out here!
The Greek: Spinach-Feta Lamb Burgers with Garlic-Dill Yogurt Sauce
The Moroccan: Moroccan-Style Burgers with Spiced Ketchup

As I've mentioned in other posts, I had two taste-testers helping me rank and evaluate the burgers, and this burger was a unanimous favorite. I put it in first place all by itself, while the other two had it sharing first place with two other burgers. I also enjoyed using apple slices in place of buns for this little guy... leaves room for more tasting :)



Please enjoy: the American!

Bacon-Apple Blue Cheese Burger with Sweet & Tangy Mayo

Makes 8 sliders (or 4 regular-sized burgers).

1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large apple, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
8 slices cooked bacon
1 recipe sweet and tangy mayo (below)
hamburger buns for serving

Chop half of the apple slices into small pieces. Stir together small apple pieces with blue cheese crumbles.

In a large bowl, mix sausage and beef with hands until well combined. Add black pepper and Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal parts. Then divide each part in two, forming 16 small patties. Top 8 of the patties with blue cheese and 1 or two apple slices, then top with remaining patties. Gently seal edges of burgers.

To serve: On bottom bun, place a few apple slices, then patties. Top each with a bacon slice. Spread mayo on top buns and top the burgers with them.

Sweet and Tangy Mayo

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
honey, to taste (I think I probably used about 1 tablespoon)

Stir all ingredients together to combine.

MOROCCAN-STYLE BURGERS (WITH SPICED KETCHUP)

Hello, dear reader. If you missed my last post, I recently made my kitchen a burger test kitchen. With lots of meat, spices, veggies, even fruits, and several Saturday hours, I created four very different burger recipes. I wanted to take an international theme, infusing burgers with tastes from around the world. After lots of recipe reading and brainstorming, I chose four main burgers: the Greek, the Moroccan, the American, and the Tex-Mex. (Yes, I ended up with an "American" burger... that probably shouldn't count toward my "international" adventure). 



Of the four, the Moroccan was definitely the farthest of out my comfort zone and the least conventional tasting, as burgers go. Cinnamon in beef? New to me. Moroccan cuisine is known for its use of many spices, and this burger has no shortage. Though I enjoyed trying to savor each of the flavors, I thought the many spices were slightly overwhelming. My two taste-testers didn't seem to like that they were "sweet" (I think they were tasting the cinnamon), but if you like sweet meat, it's pretty tasty.



For something different, you could make a spiced mayo instead of ketchup. Or if your taste is spicy hot, you could be more generous with the paprika and balance it out by topping the burgers with sliced cucumber. Since mint is commonly used in Moroccan dishes, you could also incorporate fresh mint leaves into some kind of topping - maybe mint-spice mayo/sauce?

Let me know what you think!

Moroccan-Style Burgers with Spiced Ketchup

Makes 4 sliders (or 2 regular-sized burgers).


1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon coriander
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 recipe spiced ketchup (below)
hamburger buns for serving

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and knead mixture with hands until well combined. Cover mixture and allow to sit at least 30 minutes. Form 4 equal patties. Heat a large skillet to medium heat and cook patties until cooked through.

Spiced Ketchup

1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Stir all ingredients together until well combined.

SPINACH-FETA LAMB BURGERS WITH YOGURT SAUCE

Hello, dear reader! I don't know why, but last weekend I was moved to turn my apartment into a test kitchen for burgers. Sliders, actually. I'm kind of obsessed with tiny foods, and I'm always filing away ideas for a tiny food party in the back of my mind. My tiny food party will definitely have sliders.

Speaking of tiny food parties, have you seen Teri Lyn Fisher's and Jenny Park's cookbook? It's a book of foods in miniature. Need I say more? (And if you're thinking, dear reader, that's the dumbest thing you ever heard, then you're probably just like my husband. But I'm sorry, you'll have to indulge me: tiny foods are stinkin' cute.)

Anyway, back to my test kitchen. I even made a kind of a theme for myself: international burgers. Yes, I cheated a little because I ended up with an "American" burger, but hey, America knows how to do burgers. So after lots of careful thought about recipes and a day of experimenting, I came up with four burgers: the Greek (this one), the Moroccan, the American, and the Tex-Mex.



I'll post all of the final recipes, one by one. I had two taste-testers (plus myself), so I'll share some of that feedback on the blog, too.

Behold, the Greek!

Spinach-Feta Lamb Burgers with Yogurt Sauce
Inspired by Ellie Krieger’s recipe

Makes 4 sliders. (Or 2 regular-sized burgers.)

1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 pound ground lamb (can use beef instead, or half beef/half lamb)
1 scallion, diced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber for topping
pita bread, slider-sized buns, or hot-dog buns cut in half

Stir together spinach, feta, dill, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.

Using a fork, mix ground lamb with diced scallion. Form into 8 small patties. Top 4 of the patties with spinach mixture then top with remaining patties. Seal burgers gently around the edges. Season tops of burgers evenly with cumin, salt, and remaining pepper.

In a large skillet, cook the patties over medium heat until cooked through.

Garlic-Dill Yogurt Sauce

1/4 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch dried dill weed
pinch salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients.