Dueling Bacon Cheddar Burger

Pairs well with:

Sauvignon Blanc

With hints of passion fruit, melon, and citrus, this wine beckons you to kick back and find a perfect porch swing.

Ingredients

8 oz – Colavita extra virgin olive oil
1 oz – medium sized garlic gloves, about 8-9 gloves
3 oz – Vidalia onion, small dice
7 oz – Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon
6.5 oz – thick cut hardwood smoked bacon
18 oz – ground sirloin (95 % lean)
18 oz – ground chuck (85 % lean)
2 oz – crumbled Maytag blue cheese
1.5 T – black pepper corns, freshly ground in spice grinder 
1.5 T – Kosher Salt
6 – quality sesame seed hamburger buns
6 – (.75 – 1 oz) slices of Maytag white cheddar mild to medium white cheddar
3 oz – baby arugula, thick stems removed
½ C – of mayonnaise
2 – vine ripened tomatoes sliced into 12 discs

 

Instructions

1) To make the garlic paste, add 8 oz. of olive oil and 1 oz of garlic gloves to a small saucepan and place on medium flame, about 450º. Close the grill lid and let the garlic gloves cook in the olive oil for about 15 minutes or until the garlic gloves are caramelized having a golden brown appearance. Remove the garlic gloves from the olive oil and let them cool at room temp. Set the garlic infused olive oil aside to cool, but do not discard. When garlic cloves have cooled enough that you can handle them, smash each clove on a cutting board and chop them to form a rough paste. This should yield about .75 oz of caramelized garlic. 2) To make the cabernet onions, sweat the diced onion and 1 T of the garlic infused olive oil in a small saucepan over medium flame (450º) on the grill with the lid shut until the onion are translucent; about 8 minutes. Add 3 oz of cabernet sauvignon to the onions and reduce the wine until almost dry; about 20 minutes. There should be no wine left in the pan, but the onions should have a moist look to them. Remove the cabernet onions from the pan and let cool at room temp. This should yield about 2.75 oz of cabernet onions. 3) On medium flame (450º) with the grill lid shut, reduce the remaining 4 oz of cabernet sauvignon down to 1 oz in a small saucepan. This will take about 18 – 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. 4) Cut nine 10 inch long slices of bacon in half to yield eighteen 5 inch slices. Lay the bacon slices flat on a ½ sheet pan and place on the grill with medium flame (450º) and close the grill lid. Cook until the bacon is crisp; about 15 minutes. Check every 5 minutes during the cooking process and rotate the ½ sheet pan if the bacon is not cooking evenly. Remove the bacon from the ½ sheet pan and place the bacon on a tray lined with paper towels. Do not discard the bacon grease; this can be used to oil your grill rack. 5) To make the hamburger patties, on a cutting board, mince the remaining 6.5 oz of bacon. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground bacon, the ground chuck and sirloin, cabernet onions, garlic paste, crumbled blue cheese, and 2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper. Mix the ingredients gently by hand until everything is evenly distributed and form into six ½# patties. Season each side of the burger patty evenly with 2 pinches of kosher salt and 2 pinches of freshly ground black pepper. 6) Split the hamburger buns in half and brush each cut side with the garlic infused olive oil reserving 2 oz of olive oil. 7) Using an old clean towel and tongs, coat the towel in the reserved bacon grease and brush onto the grill rack. Close the grill top and let it heat on high flame until it reaches 600º. Place the burger patties on the grill and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the burgers over on the grill. Layer 3 slices of bacon on top of each burger. Cook for 3 minutes. While the burgers are cooking, place the burger buns, cut side down, on the grill until toasted golden brown. This should take 30 – 45 seconds to a minute. Watch carefully to prevent burning. After the buns have been removed from the grill, place a slice of cheddar cheese on top of each burger, close lid and cook for about 2 more minutes to melt the cheese and then remove the patties from the grill. The burger should cook on each side for 5 minutes total. 8) In a bowl large enough to mix the arugula, add the reduce cabernet and remaining 2 oz of garlic infuse oilve oil along with a pinch of salt and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Whisk until emulsified. Toss the arugula with the cabernet-olive oil emulsion along with a pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper until the arugula is dressed evenly with the emulsion. 9) Spread the mayonnaise on the bottom half of each bun followed by a bacon cheddar burger. Evenly distribute the dressed arugula on top of each bacon cheddar burger along with two slices of vine ripened tomatoes followed by the top half of the bun.