It's cheeseburger time, all the time

Lately, all I’ve wanted to eat are cheeseburgers, and now that I have a brand spankin’ new grill (named Bruce) I feel obligated to make them. I want Bruce to feel like he’s a member of this family, and not just sit around the garage, neglected. This week I engaged the “new grill excuse,” and tried a recipe inspired by a burger I had at a local brewpub that was topped with jalapeno peppers and chipotle mayonnaise—and of course I think my version is the better.

Jalapeno Cheddar Burger w/ Creamy Chipotle Sauce
(makes 4 quarter pound burgers)

1 lb lean ground beef
¼ cup grated, or finely chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
few dashes chili powder
few dashes garlic power
fresh ground pepper
sliced, jarred jalapenos
4 slices thick cut bacon
4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
4 whole wheat buns
chipotle sauce (recipe below)

1. Prepare chipotle sauce, set aside.
2. Pre-heat grill. Mix ground beef with ingredients from onion through black pepper. Patty into four burgers.
3. Begin preparing bacon, preferably in the pan, although the microwave is also acceptable if you’re in a rush.
4. Cook burgers to desired level of doneness. Don’t forget to melt the cheese and grill the buns.
5. Top burgers with as many jalapeno slices as you can handle, proceed with bacon application.
6. Lather on the chipotle sauce.

Creamy Chipotle Sauce

3 tbsp light mayo
3 tbsp sour cream
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp chili powder
8-10 good shakes of chipotle Tabasco
Dash of salt

Mix all ingredients together and let stand for at least half an hour.

As with most sauces and spreads, this gets better the longer is sits, so feel free to make it the day before. This recipe should be enough to top four burgers, but if you’re a sauce pig like me, you may want to make a little extra.