Zesty Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

First of all, let me apologize for my lack of an update over the last week and a half.  To say life is busy is an understatement.  However, that doesn't mean I haven't partaken in my favorite relaxing past time: cooking!  With that, lets time travel back to Friday night of 2 weekends ago.  Weekends are for fun, right?  I know I personally view them as my escape from the day-to-day grind of work.  However, this week was a doozy and really wore me out, so the last thing I was looking to do was go out.  I wanted to stay in and relax, but that doesn't mean I couldn't still have a little fun with my cooking.

Now, Mother Nature still wasn't quite realizing that it was mid-April, meaning spring, leaving it a balmy 45 degrees outside with a breeze and some rain.  So, my idea of going home after work and firing up the grill for dinner turned in to a plan of staying in and firing up the grill pan on the stove for dinner.  No matter - they have the same end result.  So, I called Shaun and provided him with a list of ingredients needed to make dinner that evening that I expected to find on the counter for me when I got home and let him know we would be having some Zesty Poblano Pepper Bison Burgers With Chipotle Sauce and Sweet Potato Fries with Dipping Sauce.

 Zesty Pablano Pepper Bison Burgers

• 2 pablano peppers
• 1/2 medium red onion
• 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
• 4 1/2 hamburger buns
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lb bison meat
• 4 slices pepper-jack cheese

Chipotle Sauce

• 2tbsp light mayonnaise
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp adobo seasoning

Sweet Potato Fries

• 1 1/4 lbs sweet potato
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste to taste
  
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• cold water
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp chili powder

French Fry Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

First, preheat your broiler to high for the poblano peppers.  While preheating, make your chipotle sauce by combining the mayonnaise, lime juice and adobo seasoning in a small bowl and mixing well.  Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Next, prepare your french fry dipping sauce by combining the mayonnaise, ketchup, onion powder and garlic powder in another small bowl and mixing well.  Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To begin the french fries at this point, you should peel your sweet potato and cut it into 1/4 inch wide strips, 3-4 inches long each, such that they resemble french fries.  Place the strips in a large bowl and add cold water until the french fries are just covered.  Add the sugar and 1 tsp salt and stir.  Let the french fries soak for 15 minutes.  Soaking the potatoes in a salt-sugar solution will draw out some of their natural water, so they brown, rather than steam, in the oven.




For the burgers, place the poblano peppers on a small sheet pan.  Place the sheet pan 2-4 inches from the heating element in the oven and broil for 8 minutes, turning the peppers after 6 minutes.  Once done, remove the peppers from the oven, lower the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees, and place the peppers in a large, resealable plastic bag for 15 minutes.  This will help you to skin the peppers later on and also help them continue to cook and soften without being in the oven. 

While the peppers are resting, drain your french fries and place them on some dry cloths and blot them dry.  The fries will need to be completely dry or they will not crisp in the oven.  You'll end up with really soggy fries.  Once complete dry, place them in a clean dry bowl and add the oil, paprika and chili powder.  Toss to coat completely.  Once they fries are completely coated, spread them out on a lightly greased baking sheet, making sure none of the fries are overlapping.  Sprinkle the fries with salt to taste and place in the oven.  Bake, turning occasionally as they brown, until cooked through and crisp, about 35-40 minutes. 

Meanwhile, preheat your grill pan and grill press over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.  While pan and press are heating and the fries are baking, remove the poblano peppers from the resealable bag.  At this point, the skins of the peppers should be blistering and separating from the peppers.  Remove all of the skin from the peppers and then seed them. Finely chop the poblanos, red onion and cilantro.  Place in a large bowl.  Tear up the additionally half of a hamburger bun that you have into very small pieces and add to the bowl.  Now add in your pressed garlic, cumin, pepper and salt and mix everything together until a smooth paste forms.  Add your bison meat and mix gently until just incorporated.  Now form your bison meat mixture into for 3/4 inch thick patties.

Place the patties in your grill pan and top with your grill press.  Cook 3-4 minutes on each side, until grill marks begin to appear.  For the final minute on the second side, add a slice of pepper-jack cheese to the top of each burger and allow to melt a bit.  Transfer the burgers to a paper towel-lined plate and let rest for 5 minutes to absorb the grease.

For plating this this meal, I used a large square plate, putting a small dish with the french fry dipping sauce in one corner and a second small dish with some of the chipotle sauce and a small spoon in the diagonal corner.  I then place some french fries in the top corner not yet occupied and lastly added the burger sitting on the bottom bun in the last corner.  In my house, burgers are always topped with lettuce, tomato and red onion, so those got rested on the burger with the top half of the bun just leaning on the fries and burger.  Serving the chipotle sauce on the side with a spoon allows each person to decide how much of the sauce they want to spread on the top of half of the bun.

Now, grab a cold beer, kick your feet up and enjoy a nice spring/summer night on the patio or deck with your relatively simple and healthy dinner!