Old Vine Bluecheese Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb ground beef (80% lean 20% fat)
2 Tablespoons chopped shallot
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel
6 Kaiser rolls
Olive oil for brushing on the tomatoes & rolls
2 beef steak tomatos
1 Medium red onion
6 pieces of red leaf lettuce
6 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
For horseradish mayonaise
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

Instructions:

Mix the ground sirloin, ground beef, shallots, thyme, salt, pepper and wine together in a bowl and form six equal size burger patties. Let the patties rest on a platter approximately 1/2 hour before cooking.

Mix the mayonaise and prepared horseradish together and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour before using.

Slice the tomatos such that you have 6 slices total, approximately 1/2 inch thick.

Slice the red onion such that you have 6 slices approximately 1/4 inch think each.

Rinse the red leaf lettuce – you should have 6 pieces of red leaf lettuce.

Lightly brush some olive oil on the rack of your gas grill. Start your grill and set the controls on medium and with the lid closed, let the grill heat up approximately 5 minutes.

Place each burger patty on the grill rack and with the lid open, gill for approximately 5 minutes per side for a total of 10 minutes. Turn the patties every two minutes or so while grilling. This should result in a medium burger. For rare or well done, adjust the time accordingly based on your grill.

Approximately half thru grilling the burgers, brush a small amount of olive oil on the tomato slices and season with a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper and place on the grill. Grill for approximately 2 minutes and turn over and again brush with a small amount of the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Remove after 2 minutes to a platter.

Then brush a small amount of the olive oil on the cut sides of each of the kaiser rolls and place on the grill rack and grill for approximately 1 – 2 minutes, just until the grill marks are on the rolls.

Remove the patties and rolls and place on the platter with the tomatos.

Place 1 patty on the bottom of each kaiser roll. Top with one slice of grilled tomato, 1 slice of red onion, 1 tablespoon of bluecheese crumble, one slice of red leaf lettuce and then spread 1 tablespoon of the horseradish mayonaise on the cut side of the top half of the kaiser roll and place on top of the burger. Repeat this process for the remaining five burgers.