An Inspired Cook

It’s August and that means it’s green chile season here in New Mexico. It’s the time of year when the aroma of roasted chile is in the air. We pack our freezers with enough chile to last a whole year until the next years harvest and then we do it all over again. And there’s always a debate about who makes the best green chile cheeseburgers. NM even has a cheeseburger trail marked with a map to locate the the best green chile cheeseburgers in the state. I recently saw a burger on Instagram from the NM State Fair that had a Zia symbol branded on top of the bun. It was one of the most appetizing burgers I’ve ever seen with melted cheese and chopped green chile and if that wasn’t enough, it had a fried green chile on top. I showed it to Joe who immediately said, “I can make you a Zia for the bun”. He has a laser cutter that can burn an image onto all sorts of things. So I took him up on his offer and recreated the burger which I named the Zia Burger. This is the ultimate green chile cheeseburger, at least Joe and I think so!

Joe started me off by burning the Zia onto the hamburger buns. Worked out great don’t you think?

Start your burgers on the grill with a sprinkle of green chile salt on both sides. It’s a mix of 1 part green chile powder to 1 part sea salt.

I’ve already roasted, peeled and seeded my green chile. I cut off the bottom part of the chile so that they will fit the bun. The extra green chile that was trimmed can be chopped to use on your burger. Fix a bowl with a whisked egg and a splash of half & half. And add a bowl with some flour and a sprinkle of salt.

First dip one of the chiles in the egg wash.

Next, dredge the chile in the flour and salt mix. Once you’ve shaken off any excess flour, run the chile through the egg wash and flour once more which will make a nice crust on the outside of the chile when fried.

Heat a pan over medium high heat with just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot add the chiles to the pan and gently fry until the bottom is golden brown.

Turn the chiles over to brown on the other side, this should only take a minute or two.

Meanwhile out on the grill you will need to flip the patties over to cook the other side.

When the burgers are almost done, add slices of cheese (your choice) and let it melt.

To stack your burger, Start with either a leaf of lettuce or chopped lettuce on the bottom bun. This helps the bun from becoming soggy. Then add any slices of onion, tomato, pickles or anything else that you want. Next add a cooked patty with melted cheese and a spoonful of roasted chopped green chile. Then top with a fried green chile and top bun.

Zia Burgers

2 Ground Beef Patties (approximately 1/3 pound each)

Green Chile Salt (1 part Green Chile Powder to 1 part Sea Salt)

2 Hamburger Buns

2 Slices Cheese, your choice

1 -2 tablespoons Green Chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 Whole Green Chiles, roasted, seeded and peeled

1 Egg, whisked plus a splash of Half & Half

1/2 cup Flour with a pinch of Salt

Vegetable oil for frying

Optional toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickles, Bacon

Condiments: Mustard, Mayonnaise, Ketchup

Heat grill: Sprinkle hamburger patties with green chile salt on both sides. Add burgers to hot grill and grill until browned with grill marks on the bottom. Flip the burger over to cook the other side. Place a slice of cheese over each burger patty to melt. This will only take a minute to melt the cheese. Remove burgers.

To Prepare fried green chile: Pat the chile dry with a paper towel. In one bowl whisk 1 egg with a splash of half and half. In another bowl add flour and salt. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Dip each chile in the egg wash to coat and then dredge in the flour mix. Now take the chile and once again dip in the egg wash and dredge in flour. Shake off any excess flour and place in the skillet to fry. Fry just until the bottom has browned then flip over to cook the other side 1 – 2 minutes more.

To stack your burger, add some lettuce on the bottom bun and add any additional toppings that you like. Add the hamburger patty with cheese, roasted chopped green chile, fried green chile and top it off with the other half of the bun.

Makes 2 Zia Burgers