Week 18 - Jalapeno Popper Burgers

Oh my goodness! These were the best burgers that I have ever had. I still can't get over how they beat all of their burgery competition into submission. There was just enough spice to give it a bit of a kick yet it wasn't dominating. The guacamole offered a cool refreshing accent to the finished burger. The original recipe called for bacon but I left that out. I have come to the conclusion that bacon as an accent really doesn't do anything for me; the benefits that it might provide in taste do not outweigh the various costs. I also added onion and left off the lettuce. Those are just personal preferences...

• 3 Jalapeno Peppers
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 4 slices of pepper jack cheese
• 4 hamburger buns split
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 3/4 cup guacamole

It's a massive burger once you are done stuffing it with the cream cheese filing. One thing to keep in mind is that to melt the pepper jack cheese, you will need to put the cheese on a side that was recently overturned. In the second attempt to grill these burgers, I burnt them because of waiting for the cheese to melt. Had the burger top been sizzling, I would not have had that problem.

Aside from that, this was a heavenly burger. I can still remember the utter surprise at how well the flavors melded together. I am practically drooling just thinking about it. I would say that this was probably the best recipe of 2011 thus far. I most definitely will have to make them again before the summer is over. As a result, I will give this recipe a 9.5 stars out of 10. This makes me wonder; will I ever dole out a perfect 10?