Burgers w/ Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Ortega Chiles

There really is nothing more quintessentialy american than a hamburger. The true orgin of the burger is somewhat of heated debate, however the Library of Congress states that Louis Lassen of Louis' Lunch is recognized as it's inventor way back in 1900. If you have ever watched the Travel channel and seen Food Paradise, Louis' Lunch may ring a bell as it was featured on that show. Now that the history lesson is out of the way lets move onto what we have here. About a year and a half ago I got an email from Groupon that listed some restaurants here in San Diego. One in particular stuck out as it was really close to where we live and looked really good, it is called The Vine Cottage. Now the name sounded familiar to me due to the fact that my parents had went there a few months back and mentioned that we should try it out as it is right up our foodie alley. If you are in the San Diego area you really should try this little place out as it really is a gem of a place and I want them to stay open for ever! Back to Groupon, I purchased the deal they had going on and my wife and I went. And well the rest is history as we go there quite often and tell as many people as we can about it and go with as many people as we can. One thing that we have quite a bit is there Grass-Fed Beef Burger. It truly is a wonderful burger and paired with a nice cold beer from a local brewery it really doesn't get much better. As is always the case I like to try and recreate dishes at home and this was one that I really wanted to do so I can enjoy it whenever I want. I also decided to try and grind my own burger meat using a New York strip. You do not have to do this but make sure you get a really nice fresh grind of your favorite beef, no less than 85/15 though. There is one addition that I always like to add to my burgers if the establishment offers it and this is nice over medium fried egg. A fried egg on a burger is one of those things that you really have to try to truly appreciate how tasty it is. The Vine Cottage burger also comes with drunken goat cheese which I could have gotten at a local cheese shop we frequent but we opted to use just regular goat cheese as I feel the drunken goat cheese gets lost with all the other flavors that are going on. We had these burgers with some homemade golden yukon steak fries but you can serve the burgers with anything that fits your fancy. Now that summer is almost upon us, if you havent already, fire up the grill when the weather is good and enjoy these wonderful burgers!

Ingredients (serves 2)
1 lb ground beef (if making half-pound burgers)
2 ortega chiles roasted and skins removed
Goat Cheese (or cheese of your choosing)
Sliced Red Onion
Arugula dressed in a little Olive Oil
Fried Egg (you have to give it a try!)
Nice fresh bun, if you can get a Brioche bun

Method

1. Start by making your hamburger patties. If you are going to grind your own meat trim all the fat and cut into 1/2 inch squares and set asside and then cube up your meat and place the meat and fat on a tray and place in the freezer for 5 minutes or so. Remove from freezer and pulse in a food processor with the fat until desired consistancy is reached. You dont want to over grind it otherwise it will become tough (if you want this is a good video to watch if you have never ground your own meat before)

2. Wether using pre ground meat or your own weigh the meat to make the burgers the same weight and then form into patties. This step is really crucial as over working the meat while forming will make them tougher and compacting it to much will also make the patties swell up. Gently work the meat into a ball then flatten with the palm of your hand to form a rough circle continue to work the patty until it is about a 1/2" thick (here is a little trick, once the patty is formed press your thumb into the middle of each patty to create an indentation, this will aid in making sure the buger does not puff up)

3. For my burgers I like to drizzle a little olive oil over them and then season well with kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a little dusting of garlic powder. Set asside in the fridge until ready for grilling

4. Roast the chiles, the easiest way to do this is over a gas stove top burner. Turn a burner to med-high and place the chile(s) right on the grate and let them get nice and black on all sides. Once nicely charred on all sides put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely. Remove from the bowl after cooled and scrape the charred skin away with a fork then cut into desired size for your burger disgarding the seeds

5. Now that the patties are made and the chiles are ready fire up your grill and cook the patties to your desired doneness. This step I will leave up to you as it is really subjective. But one thing I will say is leaving your meat to rest at room temp is not something I ever recommend doing, contrary to what you may have heard/read elsewhere. However I do recommend letting your cheese come to room temp so it will melt quicker

6. When your burgers are done assemble (hopefully with a  fried egg) and enjoy (preferably eating outside!)

**If you have any questions in regards to grilling burgers please feel free to ask me. Grilling is something that takes a while to truly get the hang of and knowing your grill is the first step as they are all a little bit different.**