20090812

It came from New Mexico

• From the El Paso (TX) Times

MESILLA, NM -- Executive chef Lauro Campos has faced many challenges in his 48-year career, the past 18 at the Double Eagle and Pepper's Café.

"I don't have any problems with any food I am asked to make, no matter how crazy it is," Campos said.

He has pretty much seen it all. Some of the culinary experiments have been successful, while others have not.

Banana enchiladas? No problem, still on the menu.

Chocolate tacos? Not on the menu yet but available for the asking.

S'mores pie? That one didn't work out so well.

So it's no surprise that Campos was receptive when Jerry Harrell, the restaurant general manager, approached him with another challenge -- to develop the world's largest green chile cheeseburger.

Harrell wanted a burger that would make the mouths of guests of Double Eagle and Pepper's Café water and that was big enough to make the Guinness World Records.

What Campos developed was a grilled, 10-inch, 1-pound patty of hand-ground beef draped with roasted green chiles and a half-pound of sliced white New Mexico queso fresco. The burger is then topped with the restaurant's colorful pico de gallo and sandwiched inside a specially baked yeast bun with garlic-infused mayonnaise made by the well-established and respected Lujan's Bakery in Las Cruces.

[Go here for the full story.]
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