Black Cherry-Wine Burgers with Goat Cheese, Prosciutto and Balsamic-Thyme Onions

In the summer, there is nothing I love more for lunch than some salty prosciutto drizzled with olive oil on a fresh baguette and a bowl of sweet, juicy Bing cherries.It struck me that this salty-sweet combination had the potential to be a beautiful burger, so I started to play around.

Ingredients:

For the burgers:

1 cup halved and pitted Bing cherries

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cups Sutter Homes Cabernet Sauvignon

1 tbsp honey

2 lbs ground chuck (80/20)

2 tsp fresh thyme

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

For the onions:

2 medium red onions

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tbsp honey

Toppings:

¼ lb Prosciutto di Parma, thinly sliced

4 oz. goat cheese

2 fresh baguettes

Instructions:

Pulse halved and pitted cherries in the bowl of a food processor with two tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Pulse until finely chopped.

Bring Cabernet and honey to simmer in a saute pan over medium-high heat on the grill. Simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup. Add cherry and balsamic mixture to the Cabernet about three minutes before it is finished reducing and before taking it off the heat. Remove mixture from heat and let cool.

Add cooled Cabernet and cherries to ground chuck. Add thyme, salt, and pepper. Mix very gently, taking care not to handle the meat too much. Form meat into six oblong patties so as to fit on the baguette.

Begin to prepare balsamic onions by cutting onions into quarters and slicing thinly.

Melt two tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in the same pan used to reduce the wine. Add onions and stir until they are well-coated and have begun to sweat, about five minutes. Add the balsamic, thyme and honey, and continue to stir for about 10 minutes, until they have softened. Move onions to the back of the grill off the heat and cover to keep warm.

Heat your grill to high (450-550). Cook burger patties for 8 to 10 minutes (for medium) with lid closed. Turn once, half-way through cooking. One minute before taking the burgers off the grill, dot the tops with the goat cheese.

Slice each baguette into three pieces, about 6 inches long. Cut the pieces lengthwise, but do not slice the whole way through the bread.

Place the burger with goat cheese in the baguette. Top with 2-3 thin slices of Prosciutto di Parma. Generously spoon balsamic-thyme onions over the sandwich, sliced-side up.