Blue Cheese Juicy Lucy with Grilled Jalapeno Poppers

I am thinking with all this warm weather that this will be "Grill Week" at the Zara house. And since we live in the home of the "Juicy Lucy", it was time to have one on the grill ! 

There has been a long standing rivalry in South Minneapolis over which restaurant has the best juicy lucy, and I have to say my favorite is the 5-8 Club, mostly because they have a selection of cheeses. My personal favorite of the "lucy's" is the blue cheese, so I have recreated my own version here. 

I had blue cheese crumbles in the refrigerator, but they were a bit too "crumbly" for my filling, so I added a little cream cheese, and they were perfect. Pretzel buns (thank you, Trader Joe's), homemade ketchup and mustard, and a little bacon jam, and we were all set ! 

The poppers couldn't be simpler, either. We have a small contraption called the "Chile Grill" that has small holes for standing the jalapenos upright on the grill. You will see these often wrapped in bacon, but I like mine with the bacon and cream cheese stuffed inside. 

Blue Cheese Juicy Lucy with Grilled Jalapeno Poppers 

For the burger:
1 1/2  pounds lean ground beef (I like 85/15)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon steak seasoning (I used Penzey's Chicago seasoning)
4 ounces blue cheese crumbles
2 tablespoons cream cheese
Pretzel buns
Ketchup
Mustard
Bacon jam (optional, but excellent on burgers!)
Mix together beef, Worcestershire sauce and steak seasoning. Split into 4 equal portions, then split those each equally and make into two patties. Mix together blue cheese crumbles and cream cheese. Place a heaping tablespoon of the blue cheese mixture in the middle of one of the patties, and top with the second. Seal all the edges and gently form the burger around the cheese. Continue with remaining patties until you have all 4 completed. Grill on high heat 4-5 minutes per side. Serve with buttered, grilled buns and condiments.

For the poppers:
6 jalapenos, cored and seeded
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 strips bacon, fried and crumbled
Mix the cream cheese and bacon together, and stuff the jalapenos. Put a toothpick through each one to prevent them from sliding through the grill. Place in chile grill and grill over medium high heat for 10 minutes, or just until cheese starts to bubble out the top. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.