Caliente Cantina Burgers

Pairs well with:

White Zinfandel

With strawberry and melon essences, this American original is perfectly at home with however you like to unwind.

Ingredients

1 chipotle pepper in adobo, pureed
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 lbs. ground beef chuck, 80% lean
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp. Sutter Home Shiraz
2 tsp. salt
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, and finely minced
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
12 Hass avocado slices
juice of 1 lime
vegetable oil for brush on grill rack
6 corn dusted kaiser rolls, about 4 inches in diameter, split
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
6 large slices mango, from 1 1/2 whole peeled mangoes
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
6 crisp red lettuce leaves

 

Instructions

Combine chipotle pepper and mayonnaise in a small bowl and mix well. Refriegerate until ready to assemble burgers. Preheat a gas grill to medium high heat. To make the patties, combine chuck, onion, Shiraz, salt, and jalapeno pepper in a large mixing bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divided the mixture into 12 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the rolls. Divide pepper jack cheese evenly among each of 6 patties and top with remaining 6 patties, securely sealing patties together so cheese is completely encased. Sprinkle the avocado slices with lime juice to prevent browning, set aside. Brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover and cook, turning once, until done to preference, 5-7 minutes per side for medium. During the last 3 minutes of cooking the patties, place the rolls, cut side down on the outer edge of the grill rack to toast lightly. Remove the patties when done and stack to keep warm. Remove the rolls and keep warm. Place the butter in a small fireproof pan and place on grill to melt. Place a small, rimmed non-stick grill pan on hot grill. Brush mango slices with butter on both sides and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon on both sides. Place mangoes on hot grill pan and cook about 1 minute on each side until just starting to brown. To assemble the burgers, divide the chipotle mayo evenly on cut side of roll bottoms. Top each with a red lettuce leaf, 2 avocado slices, a patty, a mango slice and roll top.