Barbeque burgers are a perfect summer treat. I got the idea for this recipe from this month’s issue of the Food Network magazine. The original recipe called for ground turkey but I had a little trouble finding exactly what I needed, so I went with ground beef instead. I ended up cooking them in the pan but I would actually recommend grilling the burgers. These burgers consist of beef patties topped with sharp cheddar cheese, onion rings, barbeque sauce and slices of bacon. Try and find a good brand of BBQ sauce or even make your own. The highlight of this recipe is the crispy onion rings, they are very easy to make and extremely delicious. I prefer to use crispy bacon on my burgers but you can cook it any way you want. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef
12 slices bacon (cooked)
12 slices sharp cheddar cheese
Barbeque sauce (to serve)
1 Vidalia onion (sliced into rings)
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
¾  teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less)
1 cup butter milk
6 hamburger buns
Oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: To make onion rings- In a pie plate or shallow bowl combine flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Dredge onion rings in the flour mixture until evenly coated. In another bowl add butter milk and season it with a little salt and pepper. Dip floured onion rings into the buttermilk and then coat with the flour mixture again. Add oil to a deep pan, just enough to cover the onion rings (or you can use a deep fryer for this). Heat oil to 360 degrees and fry onion rings in batches until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes). Drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Step 2: Shape ground beef into 6 patties. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Fry in the pan with a little bit of oil (or on the grill). Cook until burgers are fully cooked or not longer pink inside. In the last couple minutes of cooking, top each burger with 2 slices of cheese, wait until cheese has melted and remove from the pan.
Step 3: To assemble burgers – Place a patty on the bottom half of a bun. Top with onion rings; add barbeque sauce and 2 bacon slices to each burger. Add the top half of the bun.
(Makes 6 Burgers)

A very popular food from Tex-Mex cuisine is the fajita. My personal favorite is chicken fajitas of course. Traditionally the fajita is made with skirt steak and if you don’t want to use chicken, steak will work great as well. In this recipe the chicken is first marinated in a blend of seasonings and then sautéed in the pan. You could also leave the chicken breasts whole, marinate them, grill them and slice them up into strips. Sliced onions and green peppers are then cooked in the pan and tossed with the meat. The vegetables can also be grilled as well. For the condiments, you can really add whatever you want. Some choices would be Sour cream, tomato, guacamole, Mexican rice, and cheese. This is a very simple and easy recipe that takes very little time. If you are looking for a quick meal, this is perfect for you. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
8 flour tortillas
1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or skirt steak)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoons seasoning salt
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion (sliced)
1 medium green pepper (sliced)
Optional condiments (can use some or all)-
Sour cream
Guacamole
Salsa
Tomato
Cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice chicken into small strips. In a large bowl mix garlic powder, seasoning salt, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and lemon juice. Add chicken strips and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Step 2: In a skillet add 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté onions and green peppers for 3 minutes or until the vegetables have reached your desired tenderness. Remove from pan and set aside.

Step 3: Add more oil to the pan if necessary. Add chicken strips and sauté until no longer pink inside (fully cooked). Add vegetables back to the pan and toss with the chicken. Spoon mixture onto flour tortillas; add optional condiments (if you want) and serve.
(Makes 4 servings)