Monday, February 28, 2011

Mozzarella Stuffed Bison Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

Did I tell you that I am an advocate of buffalo/bison meat? I can't emphasize it enough that not only it taste so much better, it's a lot leaner and healthier. So whenever I do my weekly grocery at Whole Foods, I make sure that I stock up. I either use my ground bison on meatloaf, meatballs, burger, or chili. The option is limitless. The recipe of this tasty mozzarella burger was taken from Eating Well magazine. It called for ground turkey. I opted with ground bison instead and improvised a little. The mozzarella cheese stuffed inside the burger comes as a surprise when you take your first bite.  It's so moist and cheesy! And, oh the home made marinara sauce to go with it is refreshing. A nice break from using ketchup.

bison mozzarella stuffed burger

What you need:
Ground Buffalo (ofcourse you can use ground turkey or any ground lean meat).
Minced Garlic, chopped Shallots, Worcestershire sauce, grated lemon zest, dried oregano, ground pepper, salt, shredded skim mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.

Combine all the ingredients excluding the mozzarella. On a separate bowl, mix your mozzarella and a little bit of the chopped fresh basil. Make them into little balls and stuffed them inside your patties.

You can pan fry these burgers or put them in the grill. Please note that buffalo meat doesn't take long to cook.  Since I didn't put any eggs on the mixture, you can even have it medium well. It's best to have it medium well. Still a little pinkish inside and the juice is just oozing. lol!

For the sauce: Olive oil, chopped shallots, minced garlic, fresh roma tomatoes chopped (maybe like two or three, depending on how much sauce you want to make, but you can just as easily use canned chopped tomatoes), tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste, fresh basil, and a little drizzle of apple cider vinegar.
Saute shallots and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until translucent. Add your tomatoes and tomato paste and stir. Bring to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the basil and apple cider vinegar.  Just eye ball your measurement and season it according to your taste. Remove from heat and transfer it to a food processer to puree the sauce or a blender if you don't have a food processer.

I will never get tired of eating any thing sweet potato. My all time favorite is sweet potato fries. Just season with salt and pepper, a little bit of allspice and cinnamon and olive oil to coat.  Bake under 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden and crispy.


I didn't have any buns (no bread here lol) to go with our burger. I used whole wheat pita instead. I was going for stuffed pita burger in my mind I guess. I toasted them a little for the crunch effect. You can add spinach or lettuce. I use the former because it's packed with more nutrients.

Have a happy Monday. 

Bisous, Contesa

2 comments:

  1. This looks awesome Chat. I baked some fries last week, but really started it with a quick deep-fry. I hope to try sweet potato fries soon.

    I love the idea of adding Mozzarella balls in the middle. Will definitely try next time we do burgers.

    Your food photography is so good!

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  2. Yes it's a must try. It keeps the burger moist and juicy:-)

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