Peppercorn Burger w/ creamy white wine and pear reduction
Ingredients:
-6lbs ground chuck (70% lean)
-18 slices of thin cut bacon
-4 tablespoons powdered beef boullion
-2 tablespoons black peppercorns
-1.5 cups Sutter Home Chardonnay (2007 Calf)
-1.5 cups Sutter home Chenin Blanc (2007 Calif)
-1 whole pear (sweeter variety)
-2 Tablespoons butter
-4-5 dashes cayenne pepper – ground
-4 tablespoons brown sugar
-1.5 cups half & half
-1/4 cup buttery swiss spread
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1/2 teaspoon paprika
-1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
-6 large croissant rolls
-Red leaf lettuce – enough to provide 6-12 large leaves
Instructions:
1. Allow buttery swiss spread to warm to room temp. Mix with sour cream and paprika and set in fridge.
2. Peel and chop pear into tiny pieces. Place pear and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 10-15 min, until pear is soft and butter slightly brown.
3. Add wine and cayenne to the cooked pear and bring to a simmer over low/med heat. Cook for 45 min, mashing the pear with a hand tool every few minute to help them break down. You want to reduce this mixture by 60-70%.
4. Place bacon in a frying pan and cook until slightly crisp, about 15 min over low/med heat.
5. While the reduction and bacon is cooking, patty your burgers loosely (1 lb each) and coat moderately with fresh ground peppercorn and powdered beef boullion. Cover and set aside.
6. Once the reduction has reach desired consistency (60 – 70%), add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Set this reduction aside to cool completely.
7. While the reduction is cooling, place cooked bacon on some paper towl to drain and divide your croissant rolls. You can also wash and dry your lettuce, leaving large leaves.
8. Place burgers on the grill and cook 6-7 min each side over medium / high heat. during the last 2 min of cook time, use a flavor injector (I used a Masterclass brand) to inject approx 2oz of the creamy white wine & pear reduction into several areas of each burger. Use excess on top of burger for more flavor.
9. Spread some of the buttery swiss/sour cream mixture on the split croissants, followed by 1 or 2 leaves of Red leaf lettuce.
10. Place cooked burger on lettuce and loosely lay 3 pieces of bacon on top of the burger. Cover generously with the fresh chopped chives. For presentation, prop the top half of the croissant up against the huge burger and bottom half.
11. I served these with extra crispy kettle potato chips as a side.