Spicy Burgers from Hell!

Some of you know how much I enjoy me a good Ronie Burger at Miracle of Science. Well... as much as I do, I couldn't help but wonder: What if you could take this symphony of meat, peppers and cheese, and amp the spice level up to 11?

Introducing: The Spicy Burger from Hell!

Don't worry. It's still halal.

I used this recipe for a small party at ma man Adnan's the other day. You can scale everything up or down proportionally, or just make a big batch and store it in the freezer. Should keep for a month or two.

Ingredients	Quantity	Preparation
Ground Beef	5 lbs	I prefer ~75-80% lean
Habanero Chili powder	1 tbsp
Habanero Crushed pepper	1 tbsp
Assorted Hot Peppers	8 oz	Chopped into 1/4" size pieces
Salt & Pepper	To taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients with the ground beef. Knead the mixture for a few minutes. DO NOT touch your face during or after the process! Not until you've washed your hands thoroughly anyway! Use gloves if you have them.
2. Form the beef into loose patties about 3/4-1 inch thick. Don't pack it in tight. 5 lbs of meat yields about 12-15 patties depending on how big you like 'em.
3. Season the patties with a sprinkle of salt and fresh pepper.
4. Cook the burgers on Med-High heat on a pan or grill. If you're doing this indoors, you might want to open a few windows...
5. You want to cook them about 6 minutes per side for Well-Done, about 3 for Med-Rare. The more you cook it, the more subdued the spices get.
6. Don't press down on the burgers while they're cooking. Nobody likes a squished burger.

Makes 12-15 regular-sized servings.

Serving suggestion: suggestion.

1. There's more to a burger than just the beef. Try different kinds of bread. I prefer a Ciabatta or Multigrain roll.
2. Having said that, don't forget about cheese. Sliced pepperjack complements the burger perfectly.
3. Serve with standard condiments like sliced red onions, tomato slices, lettuce, ketchup, and pickles. I prefer just the first two.

Variations:

1. For the "Assorted Peppers", I prefer using Jalapenos for half and whatever other hot peppers I have lying around for the rest. Jalapenos hold a lot of moisture and therefore make for an interesting bite when you chow down on the burger.
2. You could probably just use one type of Habanero (either the chili powder or driend & crushed version). I had both lying around so I threw em both in.

I won't even take a stab at telling you the nutritional info on this one. Just enjoy it. You deserve it.

Here are the pictures. Yes, I had the heat on too high for the first batch.