Best of Texas Longhorn Bacon Cheeseburgers with Prickly Pear Glaze and Avocado Toast

Pairs well with:

Pinot Noir

Every pour of our Pinot Noir brings you a delicious blend of berry flavors and the romantic aroma of violet.

As a young girl growing up in south central Texas, my world was full of bright and bold colors and flavors.When trying to develop my burger recipe, I borrowed from my childhood memories and blended the flavors of buttery avocados, sweet homemade jellies, fiery peppers and some of the best beef in the world. I took all of these ingredients and stacked them between a couple of thick pieces of Texas toast and came up with a truly great local American Burger. This recipe proves the old saying that you can take the girl out of Texas but, you can’t take the Texas out of the girl. Thank goodness!

Ingredients:

1/2 large poblano pepper, chopped

1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, chopped

2 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers

2 teaspoons salt

2 pounds 80/20 ground beef

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 very large or 2 medium ripe avocados, chopped

1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon good quality smoky barbecue sauce

3 tablespoons prickly pear jelly (plum jelly will work well as a substitute if you cannot find prickly pear)

6 thick slices longhorn cheese

12 slices precooked bacon

3 tablespoons salted butter, softened to room temperature

12 slices Texas toast

6 leaves butter lettuce

1 large beefsteak or juicy heirloom tomato

12 slices refrigerated dill hamburger slices

Instructions:

Place the poblano pepper, onion, garlic, adobo sauce and salt in the bowl of a mini food processor. Pulse until mixture is very finely chopped. Place ground beef, chili powder and black pepper into a large bowl. Pour ground pepper and onion mixture over the meat. Mix ingredients to combine being careful not to overwork the meat. Divide meat into six meatballs that are equal in size. Flatten each meatball to form a patty that is approximately 4 – 5 inches in diameter. Cover and keep in a cool place to rest for approximately 10 minutes.

While the meat is resting, preheat an outdoor gas grill to medium high.

Place the chopped avocado into a small bowl. Add lime juice and mash and stir with the back of a fork; cover and set aside. Place the mayonnaise and barbecue sauce in a small bowl; stir and set aside in a cool place until ready to use.

Place the patties on the preheated grill. Cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side. Three minutes from the end of the cooking time, spoon a heaping teaspoon of the jelly on top of the cooked side of the patties. Place the cheese, followed by the bacon, on the top of the patties during the last 2 minutes of the cooking time. Remove from the grill and transfer to a platter; tent with foil and let rest while you toast the bread.

Butter both sides of the bread with equal amounts of the softened butter. Place the bread on the grill and, watching very carefully, toast both sides of the bread to a golden brown, approximately 1 – 2 minutes on each side.

Remove the bread from the grill and spread one slice of toast with a tablespoon of the barbecued mayonnaise. Spread the other slices of toast with equal amounts of the avocado mixture. Place a leaf of lettuce on each of the six slices of avocado toast, followed by a slice of tomato, two slices of pickle, a cheese and bacon topped patty and finally the slices of toast that were spread with the barbecued mayonnaise. Place two toothpicks on opposite corners of the burgers. Cut down the middle between the toothpicks. Serve immediately.