Chipotle and Scallion Hamburgers with Yam Fries (and a Side of Hot Roasted Peppers)

This was kind of a crappy day in terms of weather to do this recipe...but we had everything ready so we went through with it.

Chipotle and Scallion Hamburgers with Yam Fries (and a Side of Hot Roasted Peppers)
Burgers by Sally Sampson


Yay or Nay: Yay! These burgers were fairly tasty, and had a nice flavour to them. The peppers came out great, John enjoyed them paired together. The yam fries came out a bit soggy this time, getting them crispy in the oven can be challenging sometimes.

Substitutions or Comments: No real substitutions this time around. We didn't put the lime on at the end for garnish...thats about it. We topped the burgers with variations of the following: Sundried-tomato paste, hot pickles, hot and sweet roasted peppers, adobo sauce and tomato. The cook book we used only has burger recipes, so it's really neat. There are some pretty fancy burgers in there. What we like about it is that all the recipes use just meat, no fillers or added stuff other than specific flavour adds. For the peppers we used the same technique we used for the other peppers, and the yam fries is our own homemade recipe.

Chipotle peppers can be found canned in the supermarket in something called adobo sauce. Chipotles are very smoky and can very spicy for some people. You can also get dried chiptole flakes.

Chipotles in adobo

Hamburger Recipe

1 1/2-1 3/4 lbs ground beef
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp minced scallions, both white and green parts
1 tbsp minced canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1 lime quartered

1. Mix beef, garlic, scallions and chipotle in a large bowl and, using your hands, mix until ingredients are evenly incorporated. Place mixture on work surface and divide into 4 balls of equal size. Form each patty into about 3/4 - 1 inch thick, tossing back and forth between your hands. Do not work patties more than necessary.  TIP: To ensure more even cooking, make a 1/2 inch indentation with your thumb in the center of the burger.

Beef patties with chipotle and scallions

2. Prepare grill by heating to medium-high. Brush grill with oil.

3. Spinkle both sides of patties with salt and pepper. Place burgers on grill and sear both sides well 5 minutes for medium-rare and 6 minutes for medium. Heat up buns if desired. Transfer to platter and serve immediately with lime quarters.

Johns Burger topped with yellow tomato, extra adobo sauce, and hot banana peppers

Andria's Burger with sundried tomato paste, sweet banana peppers and a spicy pickle

Roasted Hot and Sweet Banana Pepper Recipe

Your choice of a mix of hot and sweet banana pepper

We basically bought 6 sweet white banana peppers and 6 hot red banana peppers and then followed our earlier recipe for roasting red peppers which can be found here.

Hot red and sweet white banana peppers

Yam Fries Recipe

4 sweet potatoes
paprika
cumin
garlic powder
oregano
salt
pepper
Vegetable oil

1. Wash or peel the potatoes; we peeled them this time, because the skins were kind of grungy.

2. Cut the potatoes into fries; thinner will cook better, but sometimes you've just got to have the wedge. We understand!

3. Toss the fries with some oil and your choice of spices -- this time we used cumin, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper. You don't need much of each.

4. Spread the coated fries evenly onto a baking tray and cook them for about 45 minutes-1 hour at 375F. Here's a pro TIP: try to make it so you only have one layer of fries, without much contact between fries. Otherwise they absorb too much moisture and get soggy. That was our downfall this time -- a crowded baking tray!

Fries on the try - these fries were TOO CROWDED. Learn from our fail.

5. Eat those fries! May we suggest a delicious dip of whole grain mustard and mayonnaise?