Juicy Burgers with a Bite of Merlot & Caremelized onion Butter
Ingredients
8-10 wooden skewers
2 large sweet vidalion onions, thinly sliced
5 tsp olive oil
3 tablespoons of salted organic butter
3 tsp sugar
5 springs of thyme leaves
1 cup Sutter Home's Merlot
2 sticks of salted organic butter
1 lb cremini mushrooms
3 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp pepper
1 3/4 lb ground beef (15% fat)
6 hamburger buns split horizontally
6 thinly sliced gouda cheese
6 ounce baby romaine leaves
Instructions
First soak wooden skewers in cold water until ready to skewer cremini mushrooms. Make the Merlot Carmelized Onion butter: Heat a 12 inch nonstick saute pan in medium hight heat with 3 tsp olive oil and 3 tablespoons of butter. Saute the thinly sliced onions with 3 tsp sugar and thyme leaves until lightly brown (7-8 minutes). Add one cup of merlot and let reduce to about 1/3 (4-5 minutes on high heat). set aside to cool for a few minutes. in a food processor, blend the Merlot carmelized onions with two sticks of butter. Spread mixture onto parchment paper and roll into a 1 inch diameter log. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. Combine ground beef with 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Divide into 12 equal patties. Take out the chilled Merlot Camelized Onion Butter and cut into 1 1/4 inch slices. Place and slice of the flavored butter on one patty and cover with another patty. Gently press sides to close patty into a 3/4 inch patty. Repeat to make a total of six 3/4 inch patties. Chill until ready to grill. Toss cremini mushrooms with remainder olive oil, salt, and pepper. Skewer about 3- 4 mushrooms on each wooden skewer. Start up Barbeque grill on medium high heat. Grease grill racks with a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil. Grill burgers until preferred doneness (5 minutes on each side for 5 minutes). Meanwhile grill mushroom skewers until tender (3-4 minutes on each side). Let burgers rest for 3-5 minutes. Remove mushrooms from skewers and slice thinly. Grill hamburger buns lightly for 1 minute. Spread buns with Merlot & Carmelized Onion. Build burger with patty, gouda cheese, sliced mushrooms, and baby romaine leaves. Cover with bun top. Makes 6 servings.