Mexican Chiliburgers

Taken on a Canon Eos 300d

I love a good burger. Nothing beats ordering a burger and it coming to your table with a million tasty toppings all wrapped up in a sesame seed bun. A Bolognese burger hits the spot most of the time with Bolognese sauce and mozzarella with basil, yum. A chiliburger is also a treat, a quarter pounder with a slice of tomato and a beanie mince chili pouring out of the sides.

My burger combines the chili with the burger itself so you don’t get as much mess. I also spoon a helping of guacamole on the top to add that ‘I’m eating a chili’ feeling. Now you have to bear in mind that you (well I do) cook a chili for a couple of hours so you wont get the exact flavour of a chili but we can sure as hell have a good go.

BURGER

Get yourself a pack of mince big enough to feed however many people you need to feed, for this I’ll assume you and your good friend just want a couple of burgers each. You don’t have to get lean mince for this so you don’t have to spend extra money especially as you’ll be buying ingredients for the guacamole. Dice one small red onion and add to a mixing bowl with the mince, add a couple of teaspoons of mild, or hot, chili powder and a teaspoon of oregano. Mix it all with your hands and add a good squirt of tomato puree, an egg and a small handful of breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture. Add half a teaspoon of ground cumin and a very small tin of drained kidney beans. Fry a little bit of the mixture in a hot pan to get of idea of what it’s going to taste like. If you want it spicier add some jalapeños or some more chili powder then form into the burger shapes (pat them a lot thinner than you think you should as meat contracts when it cooks and the middle of you burger maybe raw when you’ve fried the outside) and refrigerate for half an hour. In the mean time make your guacamole (see below)

You could either do all of the above or just buy a packet of chili con carne powder and mix it in, up to you, but don’t forget the kidney beans!

Fry your burger in a medium to hot pan until cooked and eat straight away.

GUACAMOLE

You can buy guacamole from the shop for a pound but as I’ve said before you can buy lots of things from the shop but if you want to make a show of something then make it yourself.

Take two ripe avocados, give them a squeeze before you buy them to make sure they’re a bit squidgy first (if they’re not ripe you can put them in a bag with a banana and the ripen up a treat). I see a lot of people getting into a mess with avocado so here’s a tip: cut the avocado in half and remove the stone, while it’s still in the skin cut it with a table knife lengthways then width ways so you have a grid. Take a dessertspoon and follow the curve of the fruit and hey presto you have little cubes(ish) of avocado. Add this to a mixing bowl and toss in half the juice of a lemon. Finely dice a shallot and add to the avocado. Add a dessertspoon of mayonnaise and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper because avocados need it. Give it a good mix and squash a few cubes to get a half smooth and half chunky texture. Now squeeze small dots of tomato puree into the bowl and fold gently. Cover and refrigerate until you need it.

When it comes to serving it you can do the norm of a burger bun, burger, slice of cheese, tomato and guacamole at the top. If you want to make it look a bit fancy make it an open face sandwich with a toasted ciabatta slice and build it up (although eating it like this goes again my ‘eating burgers and pizza with a knife and fork rule).

Enjoy