Green Chili Cheeseburgers

Hellooooooo, new favorite burger! For a long time, this blue cheese burger was number one in the place in my heart reserved for burger love. While it will always be a favorite, it has been bumped to make room for this.

What you see here is a perfectly seasoned burger patty with cheese and chilis mixed right into the meat, topped with a big hunk of monterey jack, and finally a honey-lime-green chili mixture. Usually, I like a lot of condiments on my burger - ketchup, mustard, mayo, and sometimes even ranch dressing makes an appearance. This doesn't need any help from condiments. The flavors are so spot-on that adding ketchup would be downright sinful...and not in the good way.

This recipe makes 4 burgers. I froze 2 of them for future dinners, an am trying to decide what to do with the rest of the green chili sauce. Thoughts anyone? I'm thinking it might be good in an omelette with some of my leftover Monterey Jack cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

1 pound ground beef (85/15 or 80/20)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilis, divided 

1.5 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut into tiny cubes, plus more for topping burgers 

2 teaspoons honey 

Juice of half a lime

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil 

4 Kaiser rolls, toasted

In a bowl, gently combine ground beef, salt, pepper, cumin, onion powder, garlic cloves, half a can of green chilis, and cheese cubes. Form into 4 even patties, wrap individually in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

In a small bowl, combine the remaining chilis, honey, and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

To cook the burgers, heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook burgers to desired doneness (mine took about 8 minutes to be medium-well/well-doneish), topping with cheese and covering pan with lid during the last minute of cooking. 

When ready to serve, top burgers with green chili sauce, place on a toasted bun, and enjoy! 

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Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is

The Honey Badger: A Cocktail

Who here remembers the hilarious Honey Badger viral video from early last year? It's one of my favorite things on YouTube, and I highly suggest that you take a look if you are currently scratching your head, and wondering what the heck the title of this post is all about. (Warning: not safe for work, due to some fresh language.) 

No lie, I probably watch this video about once a month. As goofy as it sounds, I think that the honey badger's scrappy, fearless nature is something we should all strive to emulate. The honey badger doesn't see a challenge and back away - it just scrambles up a tree and takes what it wants (in its case, a cobra for dinner.)

While browsing through Pinterest a couple weeks ago, I came across a cocktail called "The Honey Badger." Obviously, I wanted to make it. I don't make a lot of mixed drinks at home - I mainly drink beer and wine, and the occasional bourbon and ginger-ale. My liquor collection is more often used for cooking than for drinking. Fortunately, I got some good news in my life last week that called for a bit of celebration - and what celebration is complete without some bubbly?

Even if you don't have something to celebrate at the moment you should make this drink. It's sweet and refreshing, and makes an excellent summer cocktail. Now that I have a mason jar full of honey syrup and a bottle of St. Germain at my disposal, I see myself making this many more times in the near future!

Here's what you'll need for 1 cocktail:

2 tablespoons honey syrup (see below)
2 tablespoons elderflower liqueur (I used St. Germain)
1 orange slice
Chilled Prosecco

To make the honey syrup, combine 1 cup honey and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Let cool completely, transfer to a container, and refrigerate. Bonus: making honey syrup makes your kitchen smell like heaven.

In a champagne flute*, pour 2 tablespoons of honey syrup. Next, add in 2 tablespoons of your elderflower liqueur. Squeeze an orange slice into the glass, and drop it in. Top off the glass with Prosecco, stir gently to combine, and enjoy! You will have enough honey syrup and champagne for many more cocktails.

*In case you're curious, my stemless champagne flutes came from here. I love them. I'm a klutz and they help prevent spills!

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Source: Adapted from Design Love Fest