.southwest burgers.

It's not often we make our own burgers at home. I don't know why because they're so much tastier than anything you can get out and about, you know? I have had it in my mind for awhile to make these but I didn't have the right hamburger. You need to use a fattier ground beef for this because anything leaner and your patty won't stick together as well. What can I say? Fat holds it all together. :D



For these burgers, I wanted a spicy dressing so I went with chipotle mayonnaise. I put some mayo in the blender with 2 chipotle peppers (it was very spicy so if you don't want it as hot, just use one pepper), a squirt of lime juice, and a little salt and pepper. Puree until smooth and transfer to a bowl.










In a large bowl, mix together 2 lbs ground beef (80% lean), 1/2 cup corn, 1 jalapeno finely diced (seeded), 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 clove minced garlic, and a small handful chopped cilantro.


Season with a little salt and pepper.























Take sheets of saran and patty out some of the meat mixture until you've used it all up. I got 5 large patties out of this so if you make them slightly smaller, you could easily get 6.


If you make a lot, you can easily wrap them up and put in the freezer.










Prepare all of your toppings. Leaf lettuce, tomato, and some sweet onion.



















Slice up some avocado. It just wouldn't be a true southwest burger without these.



















Slice up some pepper jack cheese. I used regular cheddar cheese for my daughter since she doesn't like spicy food. Feel free to use whatever kind of cheese you like best.















Throw your patties in a pan, or on the grill, or on a grill pan like I'm using here. I grilled these for about 12 minutes. 3 minutes on one side. Flip over and grill another 3 minutes. Flip back to the other side for another 3, and then flip one final time for 3. These were perfectly cooked and so moist and delicious.










During the last few minutes of grill time, I threw some onion rolls onto the pan to toast up.


To assemble your burger, put the patty on the bottom bun, put the cheese and avocado. On the top bun, spoon on some of that chipotle mayo, then put your tomato, lettuce, and onion.


Serve with sweet potato fries, regular fries, or chips. (or if you're being good... serve with salad.) Ole!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_147vb9n5sf3