Tex-Mex Burgers Texotic-Mexotic Burgers

Rita~'s Note:

These were created by the Exotic Epicureans for Zaar World Tour 03. A team of 9, we each picked one ingredient from 1 region of the US our the Southwest. Making an all American Burger using these ingredients. Kumquat the Cat's friend-lime that brings freshness, JanetC-KY-pepper jack cheese or Queso blanco a creaminess and richness, Alskann-Texas sweet onion made smoky, lucid501-beef just ask any Texan, Anme-corn for sweetness and lightens the burgers, free-free-avocado a rich creaminess, acerast-refried beans for health and to help hold the burger to the chips, Midwest Maven-tortilla chips and myself-chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for heat and smokiness. We stepped out of the box and went for these cute, spicy, smoky, sweet, mini-mini burgers that we placed on tortilla chips adhered with just a tad of refried beans topped with a tad of sour cream, tomato and avocado salsa and chipotle Caramelized onions. Oh as for the burgers they are filled with cheese, corn, chipolte peppers and cumin both give a great smokiness creating this Finger Licking Treats. You can use TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP), also known as Textured Soy Protein (TSP) is a meat substitute made from defatted soy flour, a by-product of making soybean oil. It is quick to cook, high in protein, and low in fat.)in place of the beef! To rehydrate, 1 2/3 TVP add 1 1/3 cup boiling water. For the COOKING equivalent of 1 pound of hamburger meat, but equals 89 grams of protein or 12.7 protein blocks. By comparrison: 1 pound of hamburger has: 10.7 blocks in regular ground beef 11.2 block in lean ground beef 12 blocks of protein in extra lean ground beef

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 20

Yield: 40.0 mini ap ...

Caramelized Adobo onions

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 texas sweet onions, sliced (and reserve 1/8 cup for salsa below)
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the can of prepared chipotle peppers in adobo or make your own Chipotles En Adobo/ Chipotles Chili in Adobo Sauce)

Tomato and Avocado Salsa

• 1 tomato, diced fine
• 1 avocado, diced fine
• 1 lime, juice of
• 1 teaspoon tequila
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (divided for burgers)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (divided for burgers)

TEXotic-MEXotic BURGERS

• 1 lb ground beef (vegetarians use tvp as described in the description)
• 1/3 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
• 1 -2 chipotle chilie in adobo seasoning (seeded for less heat and finely minced plus 2 tablespoon chipotle sauce)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 5 ounces monterey jack cheese or 5 ounces queso blanco, finely diced

Garnishes

• 1 ounce light sour cream (optional) or 1 ounce fat free sour cream (optional)
• 4 ounces fat-free refried beans
• 40 tortilla chips (use No trans fat)

Directions:

1. Caramelized Adobo Onions:.
2. Heat the oil over medium high heat.
3. Add onions and reduce the heat to medium-low.
4. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
5. Add the salt and pepper to taste, sugar and adobo sauce stir well to combine.
6. Meanwhile make Tomato and Avocado Salsa:.
7. Add all ingredients from the salsa using 1/2 the cilantro and parsley and added the 1/8 cup finely mined onion. Chill till ready to serve.
8. TEXotic-MEXotic BURGERS:.
9. Preheat oven to 375°F.
10. Mix all burger ingredients together including the remaining cilantro and parsley. Make burgers using 1 tablespoon full of meat mixture.
11. Place on a cookie sheet pan and bake for 5-10 minutes. Don`t overcook.
12. Meanwhile place chips on serving platter topping with just a tad of refried beans (used just to hold the mini burgers on).
13. Remove burgers from oven and place on beans be sure to get the cheese that oozed out (go ahead sneak some for yourself ;) ), topping with a tad of sour cream, Caramelized Adobo Onions, and salsa.
14. Enjoy these finger licking good burgers!
15. Alternate: Yes you can make regular sized burgers just bake a bit longer till desired doneness.

Reviews

[Chef Kate]

This is really a review of part of this enormous recipe--which I scaled down to miniscule. I loved the carmelized adobo onions--I did make a full batch of those and they are great! Rather than make the salsa (as I making a burger for one) I had a slice of avocado over which I squeezed some lime juice and a slice of tomato with my burger. For the burger itself, I skipped the corn and used just a touch of chipotle, along with the seasonings and some queso blanco. Finally, I skipped the garnishes altogether--made myself a quarter-pounder of a Texotic-Mexotic which I confess to eating with a knife and fork. I am somehat of a burgr purist--don't really like burgers with tons of stuff--but this combo of the burger with avocado, tomato, carmelized adobo onions and some queso blanco is delicious! And even though I didn't do the 20 servings of mini burgers with chips, etc., I think it's a brilliant concept and that you bunch of Exotics more than deserve five stars.

[Chilicat]

These were pretty good! I think the suggestion to add a little salt to the salsa is a good one. Maybe my lime was too big, but the salsa was very tart and limey, and could probably have used a little salt to counteract the acid. I used the Tostito Scoops for these, which made a perfect little bite-sized appetizer. My favorite part? The adobo onions. Yum!

[aplaceinthesun80_4934202]

Tried this recipe last night and it was a huge hit!! Super yummy!! Although I love Mexican-inspired flavors, this was my first time using adobo sauce....and I have to say, I didn't know what I was missing. Those onions were pretty much the best part and I can't wait to incorporate them in other dishes. Instead of chips, I sliced some hard rolls into about 1/2 think slices then used a circular cookie cutter close to the size of the hamburgers and did a nice little stack. Definitely try this recipe, you don't be disappointed.