00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Fajita Cheeseburger.
00:08That's right, this is my take on the very viral burger video that's been making the
00:12rounds.
00:13And while I did not pan fry mine in an inch of margarine or butter spread or whatever
00:18that stuff was, I still love the idea and thought this came out incredibly well.
00:23And to get started, we'll mix up our fajita spice, which for me will include some chili
00:27powder, as well as some smoked paprika, plus way more than a few shakes of cayenne.
00:34We will also add some ground cumin, some onion powder, some garlic powder, and then last
00:39but not least, some Mexican oregano.
00:42And that's it, we'll take a spoon and give this a mix.
00:45And believe it or not, we just saved like $7, which is what a jar of fajita spice costs
00:49in my local store.
00:51And no, I don't add salt to mine, since how much I use of that will depend on what I'm
00:56cooking.
00:57But anyway, once that's mixed up, we'll set it aside and we'll go ahead and form our burger.
01:02And as usual, we'll dampen our hands so the meat doesn't stick, and we will shape this
01:07using our famous three-step method, the old ball, patty, and press, which is where we
01:13first make a smooth ball.
01:15Then we go around shaping it into a patty before giving it a final pressing to whatever
01:20size we want, which ideally is a little bit larger than the size of our bun.
01:25And then what we'll do is season this on both sides very generously with some kosher salt,
01:30in which I mixed a little bit of freshly ground black pepper.
01:34And that's it, besides our burger and our fajita spice, we're also going to need some
01:38sliced onions, some sliced seeded jalapeno rings, as well as half a small tomato I cut
01:44in quarters.
01:46And then as far as the bun we're going to serve this on, I am going to toast it as usual,
01:50but we're not using butter.
01:51All right, I'm actually going to spread this with mayo.
01:54On the inside and outside of the bun, which is a trick I developed in culinary school,
02:00which made my dorm room grilled cheese sandwiches legendary.
02:03Oh yeah, ask somebody.
02:06And once slathered, we'll put those in a dry pan on medium-high heat, and we'll give those
02:10about a minute per side, or until they're very, very impressively toasted.
02:16And by the way, in the video, I believe they used the same butter oil spread that they
02:19used to fry the burgers.
02:21So if you'd rather use that, go ahead.
02:24I mean, you are after all the Princesa of this hamburguesa, but if you've never had
02:29a mayo toasted bun or bread, you really should give it a try.
02:33And that's it.
02:34Once we're ready to cook our burger, we will melt some butter in some olive oil, or at
02:37least that's how I'm doing it, over medium-high heat.
02:41And if that looks like a lot of fat to you, definitely check out the original Mexican
02:45burger video.
02:47This ain't nothing.
02:48And once that butter starts to melt and sizzle, we will transfer our burger in, and then we'll
02:53surround it with our fajita vegetables, and we will spread those out to maximize pan contact.
02:59Since besides searing the burger, we really do want these vegetables to take on some nice
03:03brown color, and get them to the point where the edges are actually charring a little bit.
03:07Oh, and we did season the meat, but we did not season the vegetables.
03:12So let's go ahead and give those a nice sprinkling of salt.
03:15And at this point, I probably should have just left those tomatoes alone, and just let
03:19them brown really nicely on one side.
03:21But you know me, I cannot resist touching the food.
03:24So I did give those a flip, and then also turned over the rest of the veggies once they
03:28started to brown.
03:30And then once things had seared for about three minutes, I generously applied some fajita
03:35spice over the top, using a relatively heavy hand.
03:39But of course, the spice level is going to be up to you.
03:42And once that's accomplished, we can go ahead and flip our burger, and we'll cook the other
03:46side for about the same amount of time, or until the burger is done to your liking.
03:52And while that second side cooks, we'll give the pan another generous dusting with our
03:55fajita spice.
03:56Oh, and please note, our veggie and burger might not finish at the same time.
04:01So once your veggies are looking how you want, even if your burger is not done yet, you can
04:05go ahead and pull those out of the pan.
04:08And then as far as doneness goes, believe it or not, I'm actually going to cook this
04:11one all the way through, as in the inside is not going to be pink, which I'm not just
04:16doing so I can read all the comments on how I overcooked this.
04:19But for this particular burger, I think the taste and texture are going to be better.
04:23If our burger firms up, it gets nice and hot inside, and the internal fat has time to melt.
04:28And I think once you bite in, you will fully understand what I'm getting at.
04:33But either way, once we feel like we're getting close, we'll top that with a nice thick slice
04:36of Monterey Jack, or the cheese of your choice.
04:40And that's it, about 45 seconds later, the cheese had melted, so I transferred my veggies
04:44back into the pan.
04:46And after a brief mingle with the pan drippings, we will transfer those on top, or at least
04:51as much as we can get to fit.
04:53And I think I did pretty good, since I got everything on there except that one piece
04:57of tomato, which I will try to sneak on the sandwich later.
05:01And that's it, we'll go ahead and transfer that on our mayo toasted bun, which in real
05:05life you're toasting at the same time you're doing your burgers.
05:08Alright, I did mine ahead just for ease of filming.
05:11But anyway, we'll top our bun with burger, and then our burger with bun.
05:16And then I grabbed a hold with both hands, and I went in for a nice big bite.
05:21And that, my friends, as promised, was hot and juicy, and I thought pretty much perfect.
05:26And that's coming from someone who doesn't even like fajitas.
05:30But anyway, despite that, I thought the spices and the vegetables worked absolutely perfect
05:34with the burger and the cheese.
05:37And in general, I'm not a fan of the super tall, super messy, impossible to eat burgers.
05:41But while very abundant, this was still relatively easy to eat.
05:46And for me, as long as you can get your mouth around it, it's not too big.
05:49Oh, and speaking of size, since I am recommending we cook this all the way through, next time
05:54I'm going to make my patty even thinner, and maybe even go with the smash burger approach.
05:58Alright, I tried to shape it to a size where it would cook about the same time as the veggies.
06:03But next time I'm going to try to make the patty a little wider, so it's thinner and
06:06we get even more surface area.
06:08Oh, and in the name of science, I took a little break here and grabbed a piece of lime, since
06:13I was curious what that would do to this.
06:16And it was kind of nice, since it did cut through the richness.
06:19But whether it makes it better will be for you to decide.
06:23But anyway, that's it.
06:24My take on the viral Mexican burger, which I'm calling a fajita cheeseburger.
06:29Thank you to the TikTok channel Cooking with Holden, who apparently started all this.
06:34And in related news, I heard a brain doctor on TV the other day say that if you want to
06:39keep your brain young, make sure you don't do things the same way every time.
06:44And I assume that applies to hamburgers and cheeseburgers as well.
06:47So whether you're just looking to make something delicious, or you're trying to keep your brain
06:51supple, or both, I really do hope you give this a try soon.
06:56So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
07:01more info, as usual.
07:04And as always, enjoy.
Comments