Green-Chile Cheeseburgers

My husband is excellent with the grill.  I really do not like burgers - but I find his completely irresistible.  They always remain juicy - even though we use 90% lean ground beef - and he always comes up with fantastic combinations for toppings.  Such was the case with these Green-Chile Cheeseburgers.  

Oh. My. Goodness. These were so delicious!  They definitely took a bit more work than the average burger, but they were so worth the effort!

Now, my husband is a purist when it comes to grilling and scoffs at anyone who uses anything less than a charcoal grill.  I have to say, it would be kind of a nice to have a gas grill once in a while just because it takes a bit of time to wait for the charcoal to heat up enough (especially when it is windy).  Such was the case when making these the other day.  The grill took FOREVER to heat up and we were absolutely starving by the time these were ready to eat.  But don't think that these tasted great just because we were so hungry we could have eaten a shoe...these really were the best burgers I have had in a long time.

To assemble the Green-Chile Cheeseburgers, Paul roasted some anaheim chiles, jalapeno chiles, and sweet onions over the grill.  He then skinned the charred chiles and chopped them in the food processor along with the onion and some garlic.  Part of this onion/garlic/chile mixture is reserved for the topping, while the rest is combined with some ground beef to form the burger patties.  Paul then grilled these babies up, sprinkling the reserved chilies and a slice of Monterey Jack cheese over the top in the last few minutes of cooking, and then served them on toasted buns with avocado mash, onions, lettuce, and tomato.  So good.

Of course, my occasionally-vegetarian son would not eat a burger.  He just ate the bun and a tomato.  He's still convinced tomatoes are "apples."  Silly little guy.  And I just had to share this little pose he was doing while we were assembling the burger patties.  Hilarious.

Green Chile Cheeseburgers

adapted from Cook's Illustrated Summer Grilling

3 Anaheim chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded

3 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded

1 vidalia onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds

1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed

Table salt and ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds 85% lean ground beef (we used 90%)

4 slices Monterey Jack

4 hamburger buns or rolls

Light a charcoal fire until hot. Clean the grate.

Grill the chiles and onion until charred and tender, 2-4 minutes per side. Remove the charred skin from the chiles and separate the onion into rings. Put the chiles, onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until chopped in small chunks. Set aside all but 1/4 cup in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Process the remaining 1/4 cup until finely chopped.

Add the finely chopped chile mixture to the ground beef along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and mix until well combined. Form the mixture into patties, creating an indent in the center of each.

Grill the burgers, divot side down 3-5 minutes, or until well browned. Flip the burgers. Add chopped chile mixture to each and cover with a piece of cheese. Grill for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Serve on hamburger buns with condiments.