Huevos Rancheros Burgers

Pairs well with:

Zinfandel

Bright and full-bodied, this Zinfandel wine is a curious contradiction in tastes.

I grew up in El Paso, Texas, just across the river from Juarez, Mexico. Spicy Mexican food was served even more frequently than burgers in my hometown. That’s where I learned that everything is better topped with an egg. Now that I live in Amarillo, Texas, near where most of American’s beef is raised, it only seemed natural to combine the great taste of beef burgers with the flavors of my childhood to make Huevos Rancheros Burgers.

Ingredients:

Green Chilies:
Vegetable oil for brushing grill rack
3 fresh green chilies (can be Hatch, poblano, Anaheim, etc, depending on how much heat you like)

Guacamole:
2 large California avocadoes
Juice of 1 large lime
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 fresh jalapeno, minced
1 tsp. salt
5 drops of Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
1 TBS. from 2 16-oz jars good-quality roasted salsa (reserve rest of salsa for use later in this recipe)

Patties:
1 ½ pounds ground chuck
8 oz. Johnsonville Original Breakfast Patties
1 TBS. Lea & Perrins worcestershire
1 tsp. Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
2 TBS. Sutter Home Zinfandel
Salt
Fresh-ground pepper

Quesadillas:
1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 TBS. good-quality roasted salsa
12 flour tortillas (6-inch)
3 TBS. Colavita Olive Oil
1 ½ cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (such as Monterey Jack and cheddar)

Poached Eggs:
3 cups good quality jarred roasted salsa
1 ½ cups water
6 eggs

6 TBS good-quality roasted salsa
6 TBS. queso fresco, crumbled
6 TBS. chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

To roast the green chilies, heat gas grill to high heat. Brush the grill grates with vegetable oil. Lay the chiles on the hot grill. Use tongs to turn the chiles so they blacken and char evenly, about 7 minutes. After the chiles have blackened, place the hot chiles in a paper or plastic bag and close the top. The hot chiles will continue to emit steam and the skins will loosen. Set aside chilies. Turn off grill.

To make the guacamole, peel the avocadoes and spoon into a medium bowl. Mash with a fork. Stir in lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, salt and Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. Open a jar of roasted salsa and stir in 1 tablespoon of salsa to avocado mixture. Reserve the rest of the salsa. Cover guacamole with plastic wrap and set the guacamole aside.

To make the patties, combine the ground chuck, Johnsonville Original Breakfast Patties, Lea & Perrins worcestershire, Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce and Sutter Home Zinfandel in a large bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix together. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties. Salt and pepper the patties well.

Remove green chilies from bag and peel. Split open and remove and discard the seeds. Chop chilies and set aside.

Heat grill to medium high.

To make the quesadillas, place the drained and rinsed beans in a medium bowl and mash lightly. Add 4 tablespoons of roasted salsa and mix together. Brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil. With oiled side down, top each of the six tortillas with bean mixture and ¼ cup of the grated Mexican cheese. Set aside.

Place large cast iron skillet on hot grill. Add 3 cups of roasted salsa and water to skillet. Heat to a low simmer. Meanwhile, oil the rest of the grill grates with vegetable oil. Place patties on open side of grill rack and cook, turning once, until done to preference, about 5 to 7 minutes on each side for medium. While patties are cooking, break 6 eggs into salsa mixture in skillet to poach until tender and cooked (4 to 8 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs), occasionally basting with salsa mixture.

Move cooked patties to warming shelf on grill. If you don’t have a warming shelf, remove patties from grill and top with foil. Remove skillet from grill. Brush grill if necessary to clean.

Place six tortillas topped with beans and cheese on grill. Top each with another flour tortilla (oiled side up) to make quesadillas. Grill until crisp on one side, then flip each quesadilla over and continue grilling until both sides are crispy and cheese inside is melted.

To assemble open face burgers, place a quesadilla on each serving plate. Spread guacamole on upper side of each quesadilla. On top of the guacamole on each quesadilla, place a patty, a poached egg removed from skillet with a slotted spoon, 1 tablespoon of jarred salsa, 1 tablespoon of the chopped green chilies, 1 tablespoon of queso fresco and 1 tablespoon of cilantro. Serve immediately.

Makes six burgers.