Oregon Blackberry BBQ Burger

Pairs well with:

Cabernet Sauvignon

This rich red easily complements your homemade chicken dishes, red meats, game, and mildly seasoned pastas.

Imagine sitting on the porch on a sunny August afternoon with the smell of the neighbor’s smoker cooking mingling with the sweet smell of wild blackberries that are growing on your fence (and just about everywhere else!).You’ve just spent a moment in smalltown Cottage Grove, Oregon, where our blackberries are juicy sweet and our grills and smokers work overtime. Where we don’t limit our blackberries to pies and jams, though those are good too. Where being voted one of the top ten All-American cities twice is an honor we cherish and continue to strive for. That’s why this burger is the great local burger. It encompasses Cottage Grove’s sweet and savory tradition of blackberries and smokers and strives for outdoing itself with the garlicy cheese spread, wine-kissed onions, and crispy pancetta. So pull up a chair and enjoy, but come prepared with napkins or a sleeve, because here in Cottage Grove, a burger isn’t good until it’s plump and extremely juicy, just like our blackberries.

Ingredients:

Beef Patties:
2 lbs. ground chuck
3 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbls. fresh chopped basil

Blackberry BBQ Sauce:
1 Tblsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tblsp. olive oil
1 Tblsp. minced onion
2 Tblsp. worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. Lousiana Hot Sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) blackberries, with centers pulled and discarded

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. cracked pepper
1 Tbls. Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon
1 Tbls. olive oil
6 heaping Tbls. roasted garlic with herbs cheese spread, like Goldy’s or Rondele
18 slices of pancetta
6 onion buns

Instructions:

In a bowl, mix beef, liquid smoke, cumin, sage, chili powder, and basil. Set aside. In a seperate bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, minced onion, worchestershire sauce, chili powder, liquid smoke, mustard, salt, paprika, crushed red pepper, hot sauce, ketchup, tomato paste, molasses, and water. After pulling the white, hard centers out of the blackberries, place them in a bowl and with your hands or a masher, crush them. Then stir them into the sauce. Set aside. Go throw the charcoal into the grill and fire it up. While the grill is heating, thinly slice the onion and place on a 15 inch sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Pour Sutter Home Cabernet Sauvignon and olive oil over the onion and roll the ends together to make a pouch. Head out to the grill. Once the coals are white and the grill is hot, put the onion pouch on the grill in the back where it will be out of the way. Shape the beef mixture into 6 patties and place on grill. Baste upside with blackberry BBQ sauce and grill for about 5-7 minutes. Flip and baste top side with blackberry BBQ sauce. Carefully add the pancetta in the grill, be mindful that they can slip throw the grill rack if you aren’t careful! Flip pancetta after about 4 minutes and watch so it doesn’t overcook. When it is crispy, take it off the grill and place it on a plate, about 8 minutes or so. When burgers have grilled for an additional 7 minutes, more or less to your liking, heap a generous tablespoon of the cheese spread onto each patty and spread evenly. Let cheese melt for a minute, then take the burgers and onion pouch off the grill and place on a plate. Put the buns on the grill burger side down and grill until toasted, can be done while burgers are cooking if you have a large enough grill. To plate the burgers, place the patty on the bottom bun, then three slices of pancetta, then heap on the onions, then spoon another tablespoon or two of the bbq sauce on top, and top with the top bun.