Turkey burgers are rarely good in my experience, but this take on a Bobby Flay recipe was pretty killer. Everything is done on the grill of course, and the flavors in the grilled onion relish add a solid punch to the indulgent meltiness of the emmanthaler cheese and grilled rye bread both soaked in suprisingly yummy turkey burger juices. Read on for the recipe! 

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We stopped by Kinderhook Farm a few weeks ago to stock up our new garage freezer with some local meat. I had received a call from Georgia a few days earlier with word that her 80-day Freedom Ranger Chickens were processed (by Georgia herself!), and while that was the reason for our visit of course I can't walk away without some beef in hand. We nabbed a flat iron steak, ground beef, that 5 lb freedom ranger chicken, and the most beautiful 1.7 lb porterhouse steak. Everything else went into the freezer for another day, but that night the porterhouse would be consumed! 

Continuing with my quest to learn from Bobby Flay, I had read a recipe for a rib eye steak done the "Bar American" way in his "Grill It" cookbook, and while I had a huge porterhouse in hand now I thought I'd give that preparation a shot. Flay is big on flavor, and remembering how insanely good the last porterhouse I had grilled up from Kinderhook I figured this steak could handle the rub and sauce. 

It starts with a rub heavy on ancho chili powder. In my younger days I only thought a pepper was a pepper if it packed some serious heat. But as I mature I'm realizing the less hot peppers have some really amazing flavors, and the ancho pepper falls right in line here. Quick gallery of the rub's ingredients and the final result: 

Flay marries this chili-heavy rub with a a surprisingly sweet steak sauce featuring a mustard and molasses base. It has a bit of a "cocktail sauce" vibe thanks to some ketchup and horseradish, but there is a ton of sweet added with the molasses. Another quick gallery of key ingredients and the final result:
While the sauce is chilling in the fridge, I got a charcoal fire going. I decided to break out the bag of Stubb's Charcoal i picked up a few weeks ago. I've been using hardwood for about 3 years straight, so i wasn't sure about going back to a briquette. But it was some decent stuff. It was on sale for 5 bucks a bag... marked at its usual 8 bucks and I'll pass but at $5 its not a bad bag of coal to have around. 

Anyway, while the coals are getting hot I rubbed the steak all over with a little canola oil and a few pinches of kosher salt. Flay then instructs to rub just one side of the steak with the rub.... something I've never considered doing but I'll follow along for now:

Meanwhile I got the dutch oven going with some oil to make up a batch of french fries: Once the coals were ashed over, I tossed the steak rub-side down onto a cleaned and oiled kettle grill. I opted to keep the steak on the edge of the heat as burning this $40 steak would be insanely frustrating. I grilled this for a total of 17 minutes, split pretty evenly per side. Here's a few shots of the grilling progress: After sitting under a foil tent for 5 minutes or so I was left with this beauty: I then sliced up the strip and tenderloin separately:  I served the strip and tenderloin on the plate separately, along with fries and a simple side of balsamic glazed green beans with a bowl of the Bar American steak sauce on the side: The table setting also included three dipping options for the fries: straight ketchup, a chipotle/ketchup combo, and a chipotle mayo combo. I opted for the chipotle mayo, and lori picked the straight ketchup... neither of us wanted the chipotle/ketchup combo:

As expected, this Kinderhook steak did not disappoint. Their beef has such a wonderfully rich beefy taste to it. The tenderloin was again very flavorful, and the strip was just about perfect. When I tasted the BA sauce straight up I was really surprised how sweet it was and I thought I might not even use it. But combined with a sugar-free rub that is heavy on ancho chili... well its a really amazing pairing. The two items really become a separate taste when combined. 

Again, I pulled this entirely from Bobby Flay's "Grill It" cookbook, so I can't take any credit here but its definitely worth a shot if you're jonesin for a great steakhouse meal:

For the steak sauce:

• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 2 Tablespoons honey (this is Bobby Flay after all!)
• 1 Tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• Mix everything together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to a day in advance. Bring to room temperature before serving. 

For the Rub:

• 1/4 cup Ancho chili powder (i couldn't find any, so i found some dried ancho's and ground them in a coffee grinder)
• 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• Mix this all in a bowl, you won't use it all but it should keep for a few months in an airtight container

For the steak:

• 1 1.5-2 lb porterhouse steak (mine was 1.7 lbs)
• 1 Tablespoon canloa oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Rub the steak with the oil, and then the salt on all sides
• Rub about 2-3 Tablespoons of the rub on one side of the steak
• Grill on the edge of medium-hot coals (rub side down first) for 15-20 minutes splitting time evenly on both sides until the steak is done to your liking. I did mine for 17 minutes, and it was on the rare side of medium-rare. 
• Let the steak sit on a plate tented with aluminum foil for 5 minutes
• Cut the meat from the bone, slice, and serve immediately with the steak sauce on the side

 

This is one intense burger.

I figure Bobby Flay is perhaps the best celebrity chef matchup for me (big flavors, lots of combinations, grilling fanatic, etc), so I'm working my way through one of his grilling cookbooks to see what I can learn. The burger itself is a straight up beef burger with melted jack cheese, but the intensity comes from the toppings. I made one modification to his recipe by making these "slider" sized... good choice I must say! So here's what I did (recipe is at the bottom):

We picked up some Hawthorne Valley Farms ground beef, and its some of the best burger-making beef we've had. It has a substantial fat content, and makes for a very juicy burger - even for these small-ish sliders. I made 6 sliders out of a pound of beef, brushed them with canola oil and then cracked some black pepper and rubbed in some kosher salt. Even for a small slider I kept to my trusted "thumbprint in the middle" approach:

After making the patties I got a chimney of charcoal started and then proceeded to make Flay's avocado relish, which is oddly almost exactly what i use to make guacamole - avocado, lime, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, and salt:

Next up was a chipotle salsa made up of plum tomatoes, red onion, red wine vinegar, honey (i need to use honey more often... so, so, so good), chipotle peppers, cilantro, canola oil, and salt:
This is when I realized i should be having a margarita. So i mixed up some lime juice, cointreau, tequila, and my brother-in-law Bert's secret ingredient - a slice of jalapeno. Damn fine:
While enjoying my drink I grilled up the sliders on a cleaned and oiled grate over very hot coals for about 3 minutes per side. I then topped each burger with a healthy slice of jack cheese, and let it melt with the grill lid closed for about a minute. Total cooking time was under 8 minutes. When i pulled them off the grill this is what i had: Meanwhile, i was cooking up some par-baked whole wheat rolls from fresh direct. These things are so amazingly awesome. This winter i hope to perfect roll-making (too hot in the summer to be making and eating mass amounts of bread), but until that time I'll gladly eat up these FD rolls... totally amazing: I then placed a burger on a roll bottom, topped it with the avocado relish, the salsa, and some crushed blue-corn tortilla chips (these are called "nacho burgers" after all)... here's the layering process: The flavors in this burger are super intense. Each one on its own would be killer, but all together its really an experience. The burger meat itself is totally overshadowed by all the condiments, but I was really happy with the Hawthorne meat even though I can only say that because I took a bite of it solo! The avocado relish was nicely sharp, the salsa was incredibly smokey which i loved (turns out I used about 4x the chipotle that Flay suggested), and the blue corn chips added a nice crunch to each bite. Here are a few shots of the final burgers: 

While we were devouring these, I mentioned to Lori (my incredibly patient and previously starving wife) that I thought this meal should actually BE nachos.... i could envision a big plate of blue corn chips topped with grilled ground beef, melted jack, and the salsa and avocado relish. Not a bad idea really... and we do need a meal for family dinner night next week. What child can say no to a nacho dinner?  

Flay's recipe for the guacamole avocado relish and salsa follow, along with my approach to the burgers and a margarita for the chef: 

Avocado Relish: combine these ingredients in a bowl, mix very well:

• 2 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (save a slice for your margarita)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
• Kosher salt to taste

Chipotle Salsa: combine these ingredients in a bowl, mix very well:

• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 tablespoons pureed chipotle pepers in adobo sauce (turns out Flay only said to use 2 teaspoons, but i though it was great with 2 tablespoons)
• 3 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped 
• Kosher salt to taste

Burgers:

• 1 lb 80% "lean" ground beef
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 6 Slider-sized slices of jack cheese
• 1/2 cup crushed blue corn tortilla chips 
• 6 Slider-sized rolls (i recommend Fresh Direct's whole wheat rolls if you're in NYC)

Process: 

• Get a grill piping-hot-ready with cleaned and oiled grates
• Meanwhile, shape the beef into 6 equal sized patties about an inch thick
• Brush both sides of the patties with the canola oil, and rub in the black pepper and kosher salt
• Place a large indent with your thumb in the middle of each patty to accomodate the burger "puffing" up in the middle during cooking
• Place burgers on the hottest part of the grill and cook uncovered for 3 minutes
• Flip each burger, and cook for another 3 minutes, uncovered
• Top each burger with a slice of the jack cheese, cover the grill and cook for 1 minute
• Remove, and let burgers rest for 5 minutes before serving (burgers will be medium rare, bordering on medium)
• Put a burger on a roll bottom, top with a scoop of avocado relish, salsa, crushed tortilla chips, and the roll top
• Serve with a simple side salad (i used a tablespoon of the salsa plus another tablespoon of red wine vinegar for a dressing), and a big bowl of tortilla chips to scoop up the rest of the relish and salsa... you'll have a good amount of both condiments left after assembling the burgers. 

Oh, and the Margarita!: combine these ingredients in a glass with crushed ice: 

• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 shots tequila
• 1/2 shot cointreau (use a full shot if you like things sweet, or your tequila cost 10 bucks)
• 1 thin slice of jalapeno

Lori bought me a Bobby Flay grilling book last December, and with us finally full swing into grilling season I decided to jump right in. We wanted burgers, and Flay has about 10 in this book. I picked the first one up, Green Chili Burgers. Its just a beef burger and melted provolone, topped with the key flavor burst of a green chili sauce and a cool slice of tomato. This was a hell of a burger. Here's what i did: 

First up was to grill-roast 2 poblano peppers and a red onion:

I coated them in olive oil and fresh black pepper, then grilled those over a hot fire for about 10 minutes. I then wrapped them up in foil so they could steam a bit, removed the skin on the poblanos, cored and seeded them, and then pureed everything with 1/4 cup water, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of honey. 

While that was going on i grilled up some burgers, and melted provolone on top. I grilled these for a total of 9 minutes, and used 80% not-at-all-lean beef. That beef was key to these burger's success... really juicy. It didn't have the killer beef flavor of some of the better beef we've been getting, but the juiciness was outrageous. Here they are just off the grill:

I let the burgers rest for about 5 minutes. And then I simply tossed a burger on a grill-toasted brioche bun, spread about a tablespoon of the green chili sauce on top and added a couple slices of tomato: Our poblano's were very hot... much hotter than a typical one so the sauce was really kickin'. But i LOVED it. The honey is totally key. It added something... but you really couldn't tell what it was. It was amazing paired with this burger. I dipped each bite in the green chili sauce and then ketchup. Amazing.