Poblano Burgers Stuffed with Pepper Jack

With all this summer like weather, burgers seemed like the perfect idea. But instead of the typical cheeseburger, this recipe adds some Mexican flavor to the classic and it is lightened up by using ground turkey instead of ground beef.

Makes 4 burgers.

Ingredients:

2 poblano peppers
1 tablespoon milk
1 slice wheat bread, crusts removed, and torn into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1 pound ground turkey
4 slices of pepper jack cheese
Lettuce, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Mayo, and Sriracha are what we used as toppings

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler to high. Place poblanos on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil about 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened.
2. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 15 minutes. Remove skin and discard seeds and ribs. Finely chop peepers and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine milk and bread pieces. Mash with a fork until a smooth paste is formed. Add poblanos, cilantro, cumin, coriander, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper and turkey. Gently toss to combine, taking care not to overwork the meat.
4. Make 8 smaller patties and make a small indentation on 4 of the patties and break apart the pieces of cheese and place it in the indentation. Place the other 4 patties on top of the cheese and seal the edges so the patties don't fall apart.

Cooling off the pans

5. Heat a pan to high heat and place the burgers on the pans and seer both sides of the burgers. Turn down the heat on the pans to medium low (to help cool down the pans you can take them off the heat and move them around in the air like we did) to cook the burgers the rest of the way until the burgers reach desired stage of doneness. 

Paired with a Riesling

Oozing cheese

 

Black Bean Burgers

Being a Friday during Lent, these burgers were the perfect solution. Even without a food processor, they were able to combine really well and weren't chunky at all.

Makes 4 burgers.

 

Ingredients:

16 ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 cup diced green peppers
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 egg
1 cup panko
Lettuce, tomato, salsa as toppings if you wish

Directions:

1.  Preheat grill pan on medium-high heat.
2. Add the black beans, green peppers, garlic cloves, and red onion to a medium sized bowl and mash with a big fork or potato masher
3. Add the egg and mix well.
4. Add to the bean mixture: the cumin, chili powder, and cilantro. Mix together.
5. Add the panko and mix to combine.
6. Form patties (make sure the patties are put together well so they don't fall apart) and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Paired with a Riesling

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Bleu Cheese Sauce and Pasta

We are both buffalo chicken fanatics and this new twist on the classic wings was perfect and dare we say more sophisticated. Just typing and thinking about it now is making us salivate.

Meatballs:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/8 cup Frank's RedHot hot sauce, plus more for serving
1 pound ground chicken
1 large egg
1 rib celery, minced (about 1/2 cup)
5/6 cups dried breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon table salt

Sauce:

3/4 cup skim
1 medium garlic clove, thinly sliced
6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup asiago cheese
1 tablespoon cold water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pasta:

About half a box of whatever pasta you want, we used bowtie

Directions:

1. For the meatballs: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Evenly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
2. Place butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, whisking, until butter is melted and hot sauce is well incorporated. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl; let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
3. Add chicken, eggs, celery, breadcrumbs, and salt to bowl with butter mixture; using your hands, mix until well combined. Roll chicken mixture into balls and place on prepared baking sheet (about 14 balls). Transfer to oven and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
4. Take out of oven and let stand 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.
5. For the pasta: Boil water with some salt and then add the pasta and cook until done.
6. For the sauce: In a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat, bring milk and garlic just to a boil.
7. Stir in the crumbled blue cheese and asiago cheese. Mix the cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl and the pour into the sauce pan and it should thicken instantly. Season to taste with the pepper.
8. Add some extra Frank's hot sauce to the plate along with some celery sticks.

Paired with Supper Club Beer

 
 

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas with Cilantro Lime Rice

We headed south of the border for this next meal! These enchiladas will compete those that your mom makes for sure. To really get in the mood for this meal, we suggest listening to Pitbull Pandora station and only speaking in Spanish.

Enchiladas:

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (1 1/2 cups) enchilada sauce
Table salt
Black pepper
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped without the seeds and ribbing (we saved some seeds to add some spice)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, divided
4 burrito sized flour tortillas
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
cooking spray

 Rice:

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. For the enchiladas: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Add the minced garlic to the enchilada sauce in a large pot and heat to boiling. Generously sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken breasts and then put the chicken breasts into the sauce. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through (15 to 20 minutes). Remove the chicken from the sauce, set aside and let both the chicken and the sauce cool.
3. Meanwhile, saute the green pepper, onion and jalapenos in the butter and olive oil and add the cumin, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. (5 to 7 minutes).
4. Using two forks, shred the chicken breasts by holding one fork steady and slowly scraping the other fork, prongs faced backwards, away from the other fork (may sound a little too intense but it definitely works better).
5. Transfer the shredded chicken to a large bowl. Add half the enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup each of the Monterrey jack and cheddar cheeses and the 1/2 cup of cilantro to the shredded chicken, and sauteed vegetables. Stir to combine.
6. Using cooking spray, spray the 8 by 8 inch baking dish. Coat the tortillas in the enchilada sauce still in the pot. Spoon the chicken mixture along the center of the tortilla. Gently, but firmly, roll the tortilla around the filling and place into the baking dish, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
7. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle remaining cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. fresh cilantro. Lightly cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil after 20 minutes and bake, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is golden.
8. Remove form the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes prior to serving.
9. For the rice: Put the rice and chicken broth in a pot and bring to a simmer with a lid on. Allow to simmer until little liquid remains in the pot (20 minutes).
10. Mix in the lime juice and cilantro to the rice.

Obvious pairing with a Corona Light

 Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Never thought we would be able to rival classic Chicago deep dish pizza, until this recipe was found! Since the dough is made from scratch, it takes about 3 hours to make, but it is DEFINITELY worth the time.

Makes 2 pizzas.

Dough:

3 1/4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/4 cup room temperature water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 4 tablespoons, softened
1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil

 

Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Table salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 (28oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper

Toppings:

4 cups mozzarella
Whatever else you would like!
We used some spinach and mushroom and jerk chicken.

1. For the dough: Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl until incorporated (about 1 minute). Add water and melted butter and mix until fully combined (1 to 2 minutes). Knead dough until smooth (4 to 5 minutes).
2. Coat a large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning it once to oil the top; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume (45 to 60 minutes).
3. For the sauce: Heat butter in medium saucepan until melted. Add onion, oregano and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown (5 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant (30 seconds). Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/2 cups (25 to 30 minutes). Take off the heat, stir in basil and oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. To laminate the dough: Adjust oven rack to lower position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring dough onto dry work surface and roll into 15 by 12 inch rectangle. Now comes the messy part, spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough (we used our fingers, clean of course!), leaving about a 1/2 inch border along the edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18 by 4 inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Working with 1 half, fold into thirds like a business letter; pinch seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the other half. Return the balls to the oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in the fridge until doubled in volume (40 to 50 minutes).
5. Coat two 9 inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer one dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13 inch disk about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the dough to the pan and press it into the corners and up the sides. Repeat with the other ball of dough.

 6. For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella evenly over the surface of the dough and then put whatever topping you'd like on top. Then spread 1 1/4 cups of the tomato sauce over the top. Bake until the crust is golden brown (20 to 30 minutes). Remove pizzas from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. I know it's hard to let it sit and not dive in, but it makes it so much easier to dish out this way.

Paired with Lazy Mutt Beer

Cheesy goodness