Dinner Divas: Chicken Cobb Burgers

Two ladies on the cooking board I frequent decided to come up with a new cooking group that was very relaxed and had few requirements. You could make the recipes or not, change the recipes or not, etc. This sounded like it was my sort of speed, so I signed up. This is the first recipe of the Dinner Divas. We get a choice of 4 recipes and the goal is to make 2 of them a month.



As you may be able to see from the picture, this was a very serious burger. The combination of chicken, blue cheese, avocado, tomato, bacon, and lettuce is not for the faint of heart, quite literally. If you are on some sort of low-fat diet, stay away from this burger. Honestly, it was a bit much for me. I'm not a big bacon fan to begin with, so I could've done without that, and I probably made the burgers a bit on the large side.

However, this recipe introduced me to some interesting techniques. I chose to stuff the burgers with the blue cheese instead of melting it on top, creating a little pocket in the middle full of blue cheese. "A pocket of happiness," as Joe called it. I will definitely employ this technique again.

Grilling the bacon was another new technique, though this one didn't turn out so well. I would've much rather fried the bacon inside or on the side burner of the grill because it didn't come out uniformly crispy. The bacon was almost burnt on the edges and soggy in the middle.

I did enjoy the burger, even if it was a bit rich for my taste. I liked the ground chicken with the blue cheese a lot. We ended up eating the dressed romaine on the side as a salad rather than putting it on top of the burger because there was no way you could eat it like that. Overall, it was a success, but if I make it again, I'll forgo the bacon altogether and make the burgers a little smaller.

Chicken Cobb Burger
Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay and Food Network

For the burgers:

8 (1/2- thick) strips bacon
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken, 90 percent lean
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
4 burger buns, split
1 large ripe beefsteak tomato, cut into 4 slices
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 8 slices

For the vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely shredded romaine lettuce

For the burgers:

Heat the grill to medium.

Place the strips of bacon on the grill (lay them across the grate so they don't fall through) and grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Increase the heat of the grill to high.

Form the meat into 4 (8-ounce) burgers, brush with the oil and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Grill the burgers until golden brown on both sides and cooked completely through, about 5 minutes per side. Top the burgers with the blue cheese, close the cover, and continue cooking until the cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute longer.

Place the burgers on the bottom half of each bun and top with a slice of tomato, 2 slices of avocado, 2 slices of bacon and some of the dressed romaine. Cover each burger with the bun tops and serve.

For the vinaigrette:

Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and oil in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using to allow the flavors to meld.

Just before assembling the burgers, place the romaine in a medium bowl and toss with the vinaigrette