Chile Relleno Burgers from Food Network Magazine, September 2010

To quote the great philosopher Yogi Berra, "It's de ja vue all over again." Except this is different. Kinda. For one thing, this burger doesn't claim to be the best American classic burger there is. Remember the other? It was the Charcoal-Grilled Green Chile Cheeseburgers from Cook's Illustrated. And they were seriously good food.

This burger, the Chile Relleno Burgers from Food Network Magazine wins as far as appearance, that's for sure. The red tomatoes, green chile and white muenster sure are attractive. But do they match up to the burger that's the best and got six thumbs up from us when we tested the recipe?

The bun does, that's for sure. See all the spicy stuff on top? The recipe had me do that. A brushing of egg white and a sprinkling of a combination of oregano, cumin and chili powder. It's a great idea. The peppers match up too. They're both charred to give flavor and make the skin removal much easier. Of course, the peppers in the other magazine were charred over a grill instead of the broiler, which is preferred.

In fact, that's the first area that this recipe fails. The broiler is used for the peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes and then a cast iron skillet takes care of the burgers themselves. If you've read much of me, you know I prefer the grill every time. The flavor it adds to everything from veggies to meat just can be matched.

The tomato mixture that's put on top of the burgers is actually very unique and has a lot of potential. With the broiled garlic nice and softened and fragrant, the cooked onions, and tomatoes, it just needs another kick to be a really good topping. As it was, because all the items were cooked, they had gotten sweeter and somewhat bland. The peppers laid on top weren't enough to kick it into something special.

The burger was absolutely bland. It was just cooked meat. I was afraid that it would be that way, so I even sprinkled some of the leftover spices for the bun on the uncooked meat. There just wasn't enough left and it should have been incorporated into the meat, not just sprinkled on it, where a good portion is probably still sitting on the bottom of my skillet. We kept trying to find the flavor but both my husband and I were unimpressed. Even the cheese was muenster instead of pepper jack and continued the theme of blandness.

So, when the rubber meets the road, this might have been a burger we would have enjoyed if the authors had found some way to really spice it up instead of just lay some charred poblanos across the top. If you choose to make these, I'd say to double the spice mixture and include some in the meat, mush it in to incorporate it and then make the patties. And definitely cook them on the grill, not in a skillet. Just my two cents.