Calfornia Dreamin

Growing up, my dad was an evangelist.We traveled all over the United States in our trailer. We were in a different church every week. My husband is an evangelist so I am still traveling all over the United States. Our home base is in NC. We are there 2-3 weeks a year. We started this year out west. We were going up and down the west coast for the first 6 months of this year. This burger is a tribute to Calfornia because most the ingredients in this burger are Calfornia grown or remind me of California (ie. — garlic -Gilroy, CA)

Ingredients:

.25 lb ground pork
2 lb ground beef
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups spinach, very finely chopped
1 7 oz jar roasted sweet red peppers, drained and very finely chopped
Vegetable oil for grill rack
6 whole wheat buns, split

Three Cheese Sauce
3 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup half -n-half
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup fresh parmesan
8 ounces cream cheese, soften

Instructions:

Preheat grill on medium-high heat.

To make patty mixture, in bowl combine ground pork, ground beef, salt, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Mix with hands until well blended. Set aside.

To make filling, in bowl combine spinach and roasted sweet red peppers. Mix until blended. Set aside.

To make patties, divide meat mixture into 6 balls. Flatten each ball. Place 2 tablespoons of spinach/red pepper filling in the middle of each flattened ball. Fold the patty and begin working it until the filling and the meat mixture are combined. Form a patty the size of the bun.

When grill is hot, oil the racks. Place patties on grill. Cook 10 minutes on each side. Turning each patty once. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, place the whole wheat buns cut side down on the outer edge of the grill to toast lightly.

To make three cheese sauce, combine butter, half-n-half, blue cheese crumbles, parmesan, and cream cheese into a grill approved sauce pan. Place sauce pan on grill. Stir mixture until well blended. Remove from heat.

To assemble burgers, cover the cut sides (top and bottom) of the bun with the cheese sauce mixture. Place a patty on each bun bottom. Add bun tops and serve.

Makes 6 burgers