I decided to mix things up a little yesterday and tried a couple of new things including an experiment with some pueblo green chile we had in the freezer. Typically every year we purchase a couple bushels of green chile and use it in a lot of what we cook. If you have never tried it by the way, you are missing out. Forget the canned, store-bought crap…this is the ONLY way to go with green chile.
What I decided would be good were some burgers with green chile on them. Sounds simple but oh baby, they were fantastic! 2 other things I did that deviated from my normal grilling routines were that I used a burger press (wifey got it for me, and I have to admit it was great) and I cooked on a cast iron skillet on the grill to get a more even and uncharred coat to the meat. I may not do that all of the time but it worked out very well and was great practice for campfire cooking.
To prep the chiles all that I did was take them from their unthawed form…
to a chopped up form…
I did not chop them very fine, I wanted the chunks and I purposely lest the seeds in which in my opinion give the chile a nice kick and flavor. Of course, the stems were removed.
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After heating up the coals and letting the cast iron heat up a good bit I slapped the burgers on. As you can see the press made some rings and what that does is prevents the burgers from plumping up, which was very nice actually. I did nothing to the meat other than season with some salt and pepper on the grill. Also notice I had not begun cooking the chiles yet either.
Once I flipped the burgers I put the chopped up green chili into the other skillet. This is essentially “refrying” the chiles as when you purchase them, they roast them in huge roasters on the spot and you get them hot and fresh. Again if you have never done that, you really should…the smell from them roasting at the places that sell the chiles is fantastic. I seasoned the chile with some garlic powder, garlic salt and a dash of salt and pepper. I did not use a specific amount, I would suggest doing it all to taste. Let the chile cook with the spices, mixing and stirring frequently to prevent any burning on the skillet until the burgers are almost ready to rock.
After the burgers were nearly done, I put a slice of cheese (I used sharp cheddar, yum) on them and let it melt just a touch before topping the cheese with the refried chile mixture. Plate, serve and enjoy. I should also note that toasted buns really made for a nice touch with this and I put no condiments on mine other than a little mayo on the bun itself. Let me tell you kids, they were amazing.
