Lamb burgers with Cucumber Sauce

OK, as you may know, Mattney is the king of the grill at our house. He has taken to watching a grilling show that comes on PBS on Saturday afternoons. This is highly convenient to me, because he decides that he absolutely has to have that for Sunday dinner, which takes a load off of my Sunday plans. Matt kills me with his seriousness about the whole matter. He looks up the recipe online, it has to be followed to a T, no variations allowed. So, while these burgers may sound totally disgusting when you're reading about it, I assure you that the meal was so delicious. I'm usually not a lamb fan at all, but these were so juicy and packed with flavor I wish we could eat them every week.We had some friends over for dinner and they raved about them too. We did grill some plain chicken breasts for the kids, not wanting to spend all the time and money on something they most likely wouldn't eat. However, Mason did have several bites of mine and told me next time, he wants his own, goat cheese and all. If you're a little nervous about using lamb, I can imagine they would be great using a good ground sirloin.

GOAT CHEESE-STUFFED LAMB BURGERS
WITH YOGURT CUCUMBER SAUCE
Source: Raichlen’s Indoor Grilling by Steven Raichlen (Workman,
2004)
Method: Direct grilling
Serves: 4

For the burgers:
1-1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, or 2 teaspoons dried mint
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Greek)
1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea) or more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound goat cheese

For serving:
4 pita breads
4 rinsed romaine lettuce leaves
4 paper-thin slices red onion (optional)
1 medium-size cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium-size ripe tomato, thinly sliced

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce (recipe follows)

Place the ground lamb, chopped onion, garlic, mint, parsley, oregano, salt,
and pepper in a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Wet your
hands with cold water and divide the mixture into 4 equal portions.
Working quickly and with a light touch, pat each portion into a thick patty
with a 2-ounce round of goat cheese in the center. (Make sure cheese is
completely covered with meat.) Place the patties on a plate lined with
plastic wrap and refrigerate, covered, until ready to grill.
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.

Grill the lamb burgers until cooked through, about 7 minutes per side (about
170 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer). Remove the burgers and
cover to keep warm.
Place the pita breads on the grill, and lowering the temperature and working
in batches, if necessary, grill until toasted, about 1 minute per side.
Cut a slit in each pita. Place a lettuce leaf inside, followed by a burger, an
onion slice, if using, some cucumber and tomato slices, and a generous
dollop of yogurt sauce. Serve at once.

Yogurt Cucumber Sauce (don't skip...this stuff is amazing!)
Makes about 1-1/2 cups
1 medium-size cucumber
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea), or more to taste
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, or 1 teaspoon dried mint
Freshly ground black pepper

Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with a
melon baller or spoon. Coarsely grate the cucumber.
Place the garlic and salt in a mixing bowl and mash to a paste with the back
of a spoon. Stir in the grated cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, and mint. Taste
for seasoning, adding more salt, if necessary, and pepper to taste. The sauce
should be highly seasoned.