Feta Cheese Burger

Burgers make for a great quick meal, and everyone in our house loves them. I'm always trying to find new ideas to make dinner time fun and interesting, and if I can add a serving of vegetables into the mix, even better. I love all kinds of Greek food, so when I was looking through magazines and blogs to put together my weekly menu, this Greek inspired burger caught my eye.

It comes courtesy of "Cuisine at Home", and makes for a great filling meal. Seriously, the burgers ended up being so big, we could only eat half a burger each and were completely satisfied. The burgers are made with ground chuck (I ended up using 93% fat free ground beef), but next time I will look for ground lamb instead to give it an even more authentic flavor. The burgers get a Mediterranean flair by adding garlic, oregano and marjoram to the onions, which are then sauteed before incorporating the mixture into the ground meat. The burgers are formed into a long and narrow shape (think mini meat loaf) to fit them onto a hoagie roll, but you could also serve them on a round bun. The meat is grilled on the BBQ, and right before removing, the cooked burgers are then topped with a wonderful feta sauce which is whisked together quickly in a food processor.

The sauce is a mix of feta cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, peperoncini peppers, scallions and lemon zest. The flavors compliment each other nicely and the sauce has a pleasant tartness to it. To complete each burger, red leaf lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers are added to each bun before topping them with the grilled burger. No further condiments were needed. 

The result, a great, very different tasting burger that was the perfect and quick ending to a long hot day. I simply served it with fresh watermelon and everyone left the table satisfied and happy. Definitely a recipe that I will be making again, especially since I will be making it with ground lamb the next time. If you are a burger aficionado, this recipe is definitely a must to try out!

Feta Cheese Burgers

(adapted from "Cuisine at Home")

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the Feta Sauce:

4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

4 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup peperoncini peppers, sliced

3 tablespoons scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Burgers:

2 pounds ground chuck or lamb (I used 93% ground beef)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

Salt and Pepper to taste

Prepared Feta Sauce

6 hoagie rolls

Red leaf lettuce

Tomato slices

Thinly sliced English Cucumber

Preparation:

Preheat grill to medium-high.

Process feta cheese, cream cheese, and yogurt until smooth. Add the peperoncini, scallions, zest, and seasonings. Pulse to coarsely chop, then set aside.

In a medium skilled heat olive oil. Add red onion and saute until soft. Add the garlic along with the spices and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes before adding to the ground meat.

After adding the onion mixture to the ground beef (or lamb) shape meat into 6 equal portions the size of your hoagie roll. Season with more salt and pepper. Grill burgers on an oiled grate for 4 minutes; flip and cook 2 minutes more (or cook the meat to desired doneness). 

Top each burger with a scoop of the Feta Sauce; grill another minute or until the sauce starts to melt.

Serve burgers on rolls with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber.

Cubano-Style Burger

 

I have much love and great admiration for a lot of different cuisines. With the weather being so hot here in the southwest already, one of the easiest things to make for a quick dinner is a good burger on the BBQ. Flipping through the pages of several of my cooking magazines, my eyes caught the Cubano-Style Burger in "Cuisine at Home".

This burger is modeled after the traditional Cuban roast pork sandwich which is topped with sliced ham and Swiss cheese and I absolutely adore them. We have a little Deli here that makes one of the best Cuban sandwiches, everything is made from scratch using only local ingredients. It is a requirement to  order it every time I eat there, it is that good. 

The burger is composed of pork and beef (which I added to cut a bit of the fat) but you could certainly make this burger with all pork or even turkey. Deli ham and Swiss cheese are layered on top after the burger is cooked through and left on the the grill until the cheese is melted to perfection. The finished burger is then topped with a mustard pickle relish that mimics the flavor of the classic sandwich which usually has pickles on it.

This recipe makes substantial 1/3 pound burgers which are moist and juicy. All the flavors work incredibly well together even before adding the relish, but once it is topped, the burger becomes irresistible.

This burger is so good, my 8 year old managed to eat almost a whole one all by himself and that is unheard off. I'm adding this to our regular burger rotation, and am already planning to make this at our next party. I served this burger with sweet potato fries since that is what I had on hand, but if you are trying to add even more authenticity then go with fried Tostones (fried green plantains). 

So, if you like to crank up the heat, love a really good burger, and want to add a little spice to your next dinner, don't wait, make this soon!

Cubano-Style Burger

~serves 6~

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the mustard relish:

1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard

1/4 cup dill pickle relish

2 tablespoons minced red onion

2 tablespoons diced pickled jalapeno

1 tablespoon honey

For the burgers:

1 pound ground beef (I used 90 % lean)

1 pound ground pork

Salt and black pepper

6 slices deli-sliced ham

6 slices Swiss cheese

6 onion hamburger buns, buttered

Mayonnaise

Directions:

Preheat one side of grill to medium-high and the other side to low.

Combine ingredients for the relish in a bowl; set aside.

Combine the ground beef and pork. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions. Shape each portion into a patty slightly larger than the bun to allow fro shrinkage. Season patties with salt and pepper and coat bother sides of each one with nonstick spray or brush lightly with olive oil.

Grill burgers, covered, over medium-high heat until cooked through, 3-5 minutes per side. Top each burger with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese. Grill, covered, until cheese is melted, 1-2 minutes, more. Remove burgers from the grill and tent with foil.

Grill buttered buns, covered, over low heat until lightly toasted, 1-2 minutes.

To serve, spread bottom of buns with mayonnaise, place burgers on buns, and top with mustard relish.

Adapted from: Cuisine at Home