Commiseration Burgers

Greetings and commiserations, Denver Broncos fans!

Actually, I'm not trying to rub in the pain of the Super Bowl loss. I'm actually a Kansas City Chiefs fan so I made a decision before the game to cheer for Denver, hoping at least a team from our division would win the big shebang in the Big Apple. Unfortunately, this one didn't even meet my criterion for a good game, which is that each team has the lead some time in the second half.

Better luck next year, except against Kansas City.

However, I was intrigued by the mayor versus mayor bet and the comparison of the Bronco burger with the Seahawk burger.

Burger Smackdown

Both burgers are way too big for an ordinary meal. And, I liked the Bronco Burger recipe better. I'm actually trying to lose some weight, so adding ham and bacon to an already huge burger would be major overkill!

So, I tweaked the Bronco Burger recipe a bit to come up with this:

Commiseration Burgers

Ingredients

4 oz. can diced jalapeno peppers

 1 ¼ -1 ½ pounds ground beef, 90-93% fat-free

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

1 Tbsp. steak sauce, (e.g. Heinz 57)

1-2 Tbsp. minced yellow onion

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)

1 pinch dried oregano

½ Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp garlic salt

1 oz. crushed Fritos® corn chips

8 large hamburger buns

8 slices Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1.     Preheat a grill for high heat.

2.     Pulse Fritos in a blender or food processor. About 3 pulses in our Ninja was about right.

3.     In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together the diced jalapenos, ground beef, salt, pepper, egg, steak sauce, onion, hot pepper sauce, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and Fritos®. Divide into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.

4.     Grill patties for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, or until well done. Top each one with a slice of Monterey Jack cheese and enjoy!

Suggestions

The egg and liquid from the jalapenos combine with the crushed Fritos to bind the ground beef together somewhat like a meat loaf. In fact, I think this would make a good meat loaf with about 2 pound total ground beef. It gives the meat a better texture so it doesn't break off in chunks. And, with the extra moisture, you don't have to worry about the patties drying out and shrinking. So save the fat and look for beef with 90 or 93% non-fat content.

Also, the recipe really calls for grass-fed beef which tastes better and may be better for the environment. But, since it's a long drive to my favorite butcher shop back in the Flint Hills of Kansas and I'd didin't want to pay the premium to get organic grass-fed beef frozen and shipped from Uruguay, I settled for premium ground beef from the grocery store.

Bon appetit!