Burgers with Cilantro Mayo, Jack Cheese, and Avocado

We've been firing up the grill a lot lately. Our poor outdoor gas grill is on it's last legs...but it's still cookin'. So I dreamed up these burgers the other day when I had a craving.

I am sorry I've been bad about taking pictures lately...with swim team practice nearly every afternoon, I just can't stop to snap pics these days. The kids are so hungry by the time I get dinner on the table--I just don't have the heart to tell them to wait on me. It is so important that we sit and eat together every night...the day will come when we won't be able to anymore. Even though it's crazy now...at least we can sit down together and eat.

Well, I shouldn't digress any further...'cause once you see the pic I did take of this burger, you'll want on for yourself...trust me. Yes, you can use ground sirloin, ground turkey, or whatever you like that has less fat...but every once in a while, have a REAL burger, okay?

Burgers with Cilantro Mayo, Jack Cheese, and Avocado

2 pounds ground beef chuck

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons hamburger grill seasoning mix (I used McCormick)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup mayo or salad dressing

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 avocados

2 teaspoons lemon juice, divided

1 tomato, sliced

8 slices pepper jack cheese

8 hamburger buns, lightly toasted (if desired)

Preheat your outdoor grill over medium heat. You can also make these on an indoor grill pan, or under the broiler in the oven.

In a small bowl, combine the mayo, cilantro, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Place the ground chuck in a large bowl, and add the Worcestershire sauce, grill seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix well with your hands, but don't beat it up. Divide the mixture into 8 patties. If you need a refresher on how I make perfect hamburger patties, click here.

Get the burgers on the grill and cook for about 6-8 minutes on the first side...don't mess with 'em once you put them down, and don't press down on them...you'll loose all the juices that way. I wait until they're good and seared on one side before I flip them over. If you want those cool grill marks, turn the patties 90 degrees after 5 minutes on the first side. They'll probably take only 3-4 minutes on the second side.

While the burger are grilling, prep the avocado. Cut it in half, use a spoon to scoop out the pit and flesh, and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Toss the avocado with the lemon juice so it doesn't turn brown. I usually cut once avocado at a time, and only cut the second one if we need it.

When the burgers are nearly done, top with the pepper jack cheese and grill for just another minute or until the cheese is nice and melted.

Remove the burgers from the grill, then go head and kill the heat. At this point, you can toast the buns...there's plenty of residual heat left for them. If I have time, I like to spread my buns with just a little bit of butter.

To assemble, put down the bottom half of the bun on your plate. Add a hamburger patty, then the tomato, avocado, and the cilantro mayo. Cap the burger, and then just adore it for one second before you take that first heavenly bite.

David told me these were so good, he had to restrain himself from having seconds. We had leftover pea salad, so he said he should be good and have his vegetables, ha ha! The kids all devoured theirs...even Christina ate most of her dinner.

Hope you try these out when you get a hankering for a burger!

God Bless your table tonight!

5 Spice Turkey Burgers

I love, love love Asian food. I eat sushi, noodles, and squid, and nothing comes between me and a deep fried spring roll. Asian food is very healthy, as long as you don't use too much oil and watch the sodium. I grew up eating stir-fried meat with lots of veggies with sticky white rice nearly every day of my life.

I am trying to cook more Chinese/Asian food. I regret I really don't know too much about it...my mother (bless her heart) wasn't patient enough to show me how she cooked, and all her recipes are in her head. I seriously doubt I will be able to get her to write any of them down for me.

So if you're willing to experiment with me...here's a take on turkey burgers. I realize this isn't Chinese food, but it is Asian inspired. I found the recipe in a light cookbook, and tweaked it because I didn't have the spice they wanted, but 5-spice powder was an excellent substitute. And you can't pour on the peanut sauce--it has calories, so just use a little bit. Instead on one whole egg, I used 1/4 cup fat free egg substitute. I also am using sugar-free, whole wheat hamburger buns to cut back on the carbs and bump up the fiber.

So here's a burger you can eat (David actually ate 2) without feeling guilty.

5 Spice Turkey Burgers

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 cup fat free liquid eggs
1/4 dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon 5-spice powder (in the spice or Asian section)
3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons bottled peanut sauce
4 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted if desired
2 scallions/green onions, thinly sliced

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, liquid eggs, bread crumbs, and 5-spice powder. Get your hands in there and mix it well; this is no time to be afraid of raw meat!

Oops, wouldn't you know it...I forgot the bread crumbs.

And BTW, the mixture will feel pretty wet until the bread crumbs go it, then the meat will get rather pasty and sticky.

Now divide the meat into 4 equal parts like this. I know Rachel Ray does this...I've been doing it for years. Maybe she got the idea from me, lol--NOT! (Okay, that was bad).
Shape each portion into a nice thick patty. To see how I shape patties using plastic wrap and a peanut butter jar lid, chick here.

Since ground turkey is very low in fat, make sure you oil the grates on your outdoor grill, grill pan, or broiler pan. Our outdoor grill wasn't working right, so David ended up cooking our burgers under the broiler. He said to broil them for about 3-4 minutes per side, and not to cook them beyond medium, or you'll have a dry patty.

Place a few leaves of basil on the bottom bun. Lay a turkey burger on top of the basil, then a spoonful of peanut sauce, and a sprinkling of green onions. Cap the burger with the bun top and serve.

Believe it or not, the basil I bought at the store was fantastic; the leaves were so big,they covered the entire bottom bun!

I hope you enjoy "gobbling" this one down!

God Bless your table tonight!

Basil Burgers with Mozzarella Cheese and Olive Salad

We spent one night in New Orleans during our 2 week road trip last summer. David had to get a jar of olive salad and a muffaleta at Central Grocery , go to Cafe Dumont for breakfast... you get the idea. So now I have a jar of insanely delicious olive salad in the fridge. I decided to try using it as a topping for burgers. This stuff is very salty, so if you are lucky enough to have some of Central Grocery's olive salad, you won't need much at all. If you don't, I would just use whatever you find at the grocery store or make your own. It's basically olives, celery, and a few other veggies marinated in oil, vinegar, and some spices.

For a long while, I was only making turkey burgers because I wanted to try and make a healthier alternative. Ground turky is pricey though, so I tried premade turkey burgers that seemed like a good deal. Well, they were pretty disappointing-- dry and tasteless. I then tried the extra lean ground beef. That was even worse, they tasted like cardboard. Ground chuck made a great juicy burger, but it also had the highest fat content. I finally tried a 50/50 mixture of ground chuck and ground round/sirloin. Ahh... now I had something we could all live with. A nice juicy burger, without sacrificing flavor. I know... it's still not very healthy, but fat means flavor, and you really have to use beef with some fat, or it's just not worth it. I haven't tried a mixture of turkey and beef, so if you do that, let me know how it goes. Personally, if you're going to have a burger, then have a real burger. I only make these 2-3 times per month, so it's all about everything in moderation.

I toasted the buns so they would hold up under the weight of the burgers, and yes, I put a little bit of butter on them. Please don't try and calculate the calories and fat in this recipe, or let me know what those numbers are should you figure it out. And the best contraption to make perfect 1/4 lb. patties is the lid of a large peanut butter jar. Yes, you heard me--and you probably have one already. If you keep reading, I'll show you how it's done.

Ready for a burger? Did you tell your man yet? "Honey, we're having REAL burgers for dinner..."

Basil Burgers with Mozzarella Cheese and Olive Salad

BURGERS:

1 pound ground chuck

1 pound ground round/sirlion
Salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves, washed, dried, and finely chopped

1/3 cup grated pecorino romano/parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons pizza sauce (had some in the fridge and figured...why not?)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

8 slices mozarella/provolone cheese

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced into 8 rounds

8 hamburger buns, split and toasted

OLIVE RELISH:

1 cup prepared olive relish/salad, (homemade or store bought), chopped

To make the burgers, combine the ground chuck, ground round/sirloin, salt, pepper, basil, cheese, pizza sauce, and balsamic vinegar in a large bowl. Pat the mixture flat and divide it into 4ths, then in 8ths with your hand or a knife.

Now, here's how to get perfect patties that are all the same size. Take the lid from a large jar of peanut butter:

Line it with plastic wrap, scoop up 1/8th of the meat mixture and pat it into your lid. If you have a kitchen scale, each patty will weigh between 5 and 6 ounces. I suppose you could use the scale in your bathroom if you have to...

Use the plastic wrap to turn it back out.

Isn't that great? The last step is to use your thumb to make an intention in the center of the patty about 1 inch across and 1 inch deep. This will keep the burger from getting a bulge in the middle as it cooks. You'll have a nice, thick, flat burger after you cook it.

After the patties are cooked (and I let the grill master in our house take care of that-- thanks David!), this is what they look like. Hope you have a big mouth...

To assemble, put the bottom half of the bun down, top with the burger, cheese, tomato, and olive salad.

David was busy boarding up the house from Hurricane Ike, and grilling at the same time, so I just served the burgers with some fries from the freezer. I figured it would be the vegetable for the night (lol), since only Rebecca and Gabriel like tomatoes. These burgers were really good; I didn't even put mustard or ketchup on mine. David did--but he's a condiment freak, and he has to have ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce on everything. I've given up trying to tell him otherwise...

Have a real burger, and God bless your table tonight!