New Mexican Chorizo Burgers

Twelve years ago I married a New Mexican. I always knew I would. I grew up watching Young Guns and dreaming about the rough and tumble personalities that came with the territory. I thought someday I would name my children Billy, Charley and Chavez. Two girls and a boy. As of today I have two boys and a girl and I didn't name them Billy, Charley or Chavez.

When I visited New Mexico as a tween I was absolutely taken with the flash rain storms and humongous sky. The rain would come down in such unique fashion—the drops spread so far from one another you could dodge them if you were nimble enough—I had never experienced anything like it.

Besides their love for gun slinging and rabble rousing, one thing I learned quickly about New Mexicans is their love for roasted hatch green chilies and hot salsa. I have come to love roasted hatch green chilies and hot salsa too—admittedly it has taken me some time—and keeping in mind that 'hot' is a relative term. 

This week I created a New Mexican Chorizo Burger for my family to inspire that Billy the Kid spirit at the dinner table. (And give me a reason to play Jon Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory tape as our background music.)

New Mexican Chorizo Burgers

Serves: 6

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound chorizo sausage

1 large yellow onion

4 TBS olive oil (maybe more)

6 full roasted hatch green chilies or 1 small can roasted hatch green chilies

2 ripe avocados

6 hamburger buns (gluten free)

1 cup mayonnaise 

3 TBS salsa

3 pinches salt

Preparation Method:

Combine 1 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound mexican chorizo sausage. Mix really well so the two meats are one in the same. Shape into patties. A thin patty is better than a thick patty for this burger. A quarter inch thick would be a good starting place. As with any burger they will thicken up on the grill. There are a lot of toppings for the finished burger. We want to create space, plenty of space.

Get 'em going on the grill. Cook approximately 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

In the meantime, prepare the rest of the toppings.

Slice the onions thinly in half ringlets. Heat 4 TBS olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute until caramelized.

Keep stirring so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan or become burnt. Add more oil if necessary to achieve this golden brown crispy goodness.

Crack open your hatch green chilies. Fresh (or frozen) chilies are preferred. They can usually be found in your grocers freezer, unless you go to a store that doesn't carry them like we did on this particular day. If you can't find them, the canned chilies will do but will deeply impact the end result. I suggest you go to great lengths to find the fresh ones, my friends. Unless you're running late like we were on this particular day, then the canned ones will have to do.

Grab your hamburger buns. This was the first time we tried gluten free hamburger buns and we were pretty satisfied. You should have seen the look on the kids faces when they saw a burger with a BUN! What a novelty in our gluten free house.

Prepare the special sauce for the buns. Combine 1 cup mayonnaise, 3 TBS of your favorite salsa and 3 pinches of salt. Mix well. Spread generously on both sides of the bun.

Stack 'em up. Sauce on the bottom, green chilies below the burger, avocado slices and caramelized onions on top.

Enjoy! And don't forget to turn on your Jon Bon Jovi tape.

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Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze of Glory