Poblano burgers with cilantro lime mayo

This bright, tangy twist on a classic will help you get the most out of your summer grilling time.

Aug 25, 2020

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The signs are all there. It’s not sunny at 9 pm anymore. School is starting (and probably ending) soon. It’s sad to say, but summer is drawing to a close. It’s not over yet though, and there’s still plenty of time to enjoy grilling out. You can cook pretty much anything on a grill as long as you have the right equipment, but sometimes you just want a dang burger.

It’s deceptively hard to make a great burger at home. Unless you’re grinding your own beef, you are stuck with the ground beef from the store which doesn’t have quite enough fat. Even 80/20 patties don’t have enough to give your burgers the right texture and keep them juicy. Another problem is that despite years of cultural indoctrination to the contrary, a grill isn’t the best way to cook a burger.

A grill won’t give you the same edge-to-edge crust on your burger as a flat top or cast iron, and the fat and juices will drop through the grates instead of staying on the cooking surface. But with all that in mind, it’s hard to beat the lack of cleanup and sheer simplicity of grilling. And as long as you don’t let them overcook, you can still knock out really good burgers on the grill. A burger with some cheese and your standard mix of condiments will get the job done every time, but sometimes you need to step it up a notch, and a burger works as a wonderful canvas for letting your imagination run wild.

Whenever I’m trying to put a twist on a dish, my mind usually goes to Mexican flavors. The heat and bright acidity can breathe new life into just about anything, and a burger is no different. My first impulse is to load up on spices, but living in a house with a wife and daughter whose heat preferences are very different from mine means featuring other flavors more prominently. And two things I absolutely love from Mexican and other Latin cuisines are cilantro and limes.

Lime juice and cilantro will make a dish stand up and dance (as long as you’re not one of the poor souls who think cilantro tastes like soap). Whipping them together into a creamy, garlicky mayo is an express ticket to flavor country, and it takes maybe five minutes to put together. Roasted poblano peppers give a nice vegetal flavor and only a bit of spice. Add a little spicy cheese like pepper jack, and you’ve quickly stacked some huge flavor on top of your burger.

If you’re in the Northeast like me or somewhere where it’s not convenient to grill outdoors 12 months a year, try to make the most of what’s left of grilling season. There will be snow on the ground and you’ll be daydreaming of standing over a blazing hot grill before you know it.

Notes

Poblano peppers are not particularly spicy, so depending on your heat preferences, this is something that can be scaled up or down depending on your heat preferences. If you aren’t much for spicy food, you can omit the chili powder or spicy cheese from the burgers and still not miss out on anything. If you want more heat, I would recommend adding either Cholula, Tapatío, or some other Mexican hot sauce to the equation. It’s your dinner, you should get the spice level you want.
Peeling peppers can be a little tricky if you don’t set yourself up properly. Make sure the skin is blistered all over before removing them from heat, and then make sure the peppers are covered and steam for several minutes before you start working on them. The steam will help the skin come right off and make your job much easier. I would recommend using the sharp side of your knife and running it along the pepper flesh like a straight razor. Don’t worry if the peppers get mangled a little, it will all taste the same anyway.