Hamburgers

Serrano Hamburger Picture

Don't think that you're doing your guests a favor by purchasing lean meat (90% or 93% lean). In order to have a juicy burger, you've got to have 80 / 20, or add some fat to the leaner variety. Somebody once told me how they purchase lean meat, then place a pat of butter inside the burger. Makes a lot of sense, right?

Place the meat in a bowl, then add the finely minced onion, blacken, and Kosher salt. Mix well, then form into patties.

I don't like using a mold for patties, but I DO like to portion them out, in order to get the same size every time. I use a 4 oz. portioner when I'm making a lot of burgers for company, makes about 8 burgers out of 2 pounds of meat. And I'll use a 5 oz. one when I'm doing for myself. I like them big, and I'll only get 6 out of 2 pounds of meat. A portioner is similar to an ice cream scoop, but can be purchased in many different labeled sizes, with each handle being color coded a different color.

After making the patties, coat one side with a little vegetable oil, then dust on some blacken, and a little Kosher salt. Be careful that you don't use too much salt, because the burgers really won't be on the grill long enough to burn the salt off. Flip them over, and do it oil and season again. The oil, helps the seasoning to stick, plus it will keep the patties from sticking to the grill.

Cook over high heat, being careful not to press them with the spatula (all you're doing is pushing out the fat) because you'll end up with a dry burger. Flip when you just begin to see the juice coming up through the meat.


Peel the pineapple by first cutting off both the top and bottom. Then, stand it up, and cut off all of the outside using a sharp knife. Slice the pineapple into 1/2 rounds, and remove the hard core with a 1" cutter.

Place on a hot grill for about 5 minutes, or, until you've made some nice grill marks. Flip them over, sprinkle with dark brown sugar, and put the lid on the grill. The pineapple slices are done when the sugar has melted.

Using nice moist rolls, place 1 slice of pineapple on the bottom then the hamburger, then the top. This one doesn't need anything else, as the pineapple adds so much sweetness and juice.

Place the peppers in a large bowl, added the oil and blacken, then mix up well.

Get the grill going hot, and place the peppers on. I usually use a grill pan to keep the peppers from going through the grill.

Let them blacken real well, then take off and place back in the bowl.

Allow them to cool then chop them up into rings. Don't bother removing the skin (that's the flavor), or the seeds (removing the seeds is for woosses). Set them aside while you cook the burgers.

When the burgers are done, Put some Orange / Chipotle BBQ sauce on the bottom of the bun, the hamburgers next, then a good dose of the Serrano peppers, and some more BBQ sauce.

Eat well and have plenty of liquid refreshment available.



Mince the raw bacon by first cutting it lengthwise into for thin strips, then cutting them into little chunks. Place in a frying pan, and cook over medium high heat until they have rendered their fat, and are crisp. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat, leaving the bacon in, and add the minced onions. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. That should be just enough time for the onions to soften a bit. Let cool real well in the refrigerator, or freezer before you add to the meat.

Chop a pickle up real fine, and finely grate some smoked cheddar cheese.

One of the easiest errors to make in this one, is to put too much filling in the meat. If you find that the meat isn't holding together, you might have to add 1 large egg to the mix.

When your ready to make the burgers, place all in a bowl with the meat and spices and mix well. Make the patties and oil and blacken as I explain under "Basic Burgers".

This is one of those that bother's me in most of the restaurants that I've been in. If you order something Cajun, it's supposed to be HOT, not just a little bit of Cajun flavor. So, I start with making the remoulade sauce hotter than normal, then when I'm putting the spices on the burger patties, I'll add a lot of blacken (that's quite a bit more than a dusting). This'll make a burger, like the Serrano Burger, that's not for the faint of heart.


This one's real easy. After you've prepared the burgers, put them on the grill and flipped them, add your favorite BBQ Sauce to the top and set the lid down on the grill. Of course you all know that I make my own, so, sorry, no recipe for it yet.

One thing you don't want to do is mix the BBQ sauce into the hamburger meat. The sugar in the sauce will caramalize before the hamburger is done, and you'll end up with a burger that's burnt on the outside, yet still raw in the middle.



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