Heavenly Horseradish-Bacon Burger

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Mild and Creamy Grey Poupon

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 3 1/2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (not drained), 1 1/2 tablespoons for horseradish sauce and 2 tablespoons for patties

• 1/4 cup Sutter Home California Zinfandel, ½ tablespoon for horseradish sauce and remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons for patties

• 2 ¼ teaspoons coarse Kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon for horseradish sauce and 2 1/8 teaspoons for patties

• 1 cup 100% pure maple syrup

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh ground pepper

• 30 pre-cooked bacon slices

• 2 pounds fresh ground chuck

• ¼ cup mayonnaise

• ¼ cup Snyder’s of Hanover Unsalted Mini Pretzels (about 15 pretzels), crushed

• Vegetable oil, for brushing on grill rack

• 12 slices of aged cheddar cheese

• 6 poppy seed Kaiser rolls, sliced in half

• 12 thin slices red onion

• 3 cups watercress

 

Instructions

Prepare a medium-hot fire for both direct and indirect cooking in a charcoal grill with cover. Create the two cooking zones by placing the coals under half of the rack (this will create one hot and one mildly hot grill area).
To make the horseradish sauce, place the Mild and Creamy Grey Poupon, sour cream, 1 ½ tablespoons prepared horseradish, ½ tablespoon Sutter Home California Zinfandel and 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt into a small mixing bowl. Combine well, cover and refrigerate until needed.
To make the maple glaze, combine the maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper in a small bowl. Place next to the grill with a basting brush for use.
Place a rimmed nonstick perforated grilling pan on the indirect cooking side of the grill. Place 15 slices of bacon on the grilling pan and baste with about 2 tablespoons of the maple glaze. Turn bacon constantly so as not to burn and cook until crisp (about 2-3 minutes). Remove and set aside on a plate (do not place on paper towels). Repeat with remaining bacon.
To make the patties, combine the ground chuck, horseradish, Sutter Home California Zinfandel, mayonnaise, crushed pretzels and Kosher salt in a large bowl. Mix well, but handle the meat as little as possible. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties (make the patties a bit larger than the rolls since the meat will shrink during cooking).
Clean the grill rack with a wire brush. Using a pair of tongs, take a paper towel and dip it into vegetable oil; coat the grill rack with the oil to prevent the patties from sticking. Place the patties on the direct-heat side of the grill and baste heavily with the maple glaze. Please note that you do not want to offset the patties from the heat even though you are basting with a sauce (when you taste the end result you’ll see why). Close cover and cook for 2-3 minutes (basting once more with the maple glaze before flipping) then flip the patties and baste with remaining maple glaze. Immediately place one slice of cheese on each, followed by five bacon strips and another slice of cheese. Place the sliced Kaiser rolls cut side down, on the indirect-heat side to toast lightly. Close cover again and cook another 2-3 minutes (turning the buns once during that time to ensure even toasting). Total cooking time for patties should be about 4-6 minutes.
To assemble the burgers, spread equal amounts of the horseradish sauce over the cut top-sides of the rolls. On each roll bottom, place a patty, 2 slices of red onion, and ½ cup watercress. Add the roll tops and enjoy with Sutter Home California Zinfandel.
Makes 6 burgers