Ultimate beef burger topped with Tempura Mushrooms and Spicy Aioli

Pairs well with:

Zinfandel

Bright and full-bodied, this Zinfandel wine is a curious contradiction in tastes.

I love sauteed mushrooms with my burgers but it’s even more luxurious to top my burger with tempura fried mushrooms. It’s a great texture to explore while tasting a hint of heat with the spicy aioli.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground chuck
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
¼ cup pinot noir
2 cloves garlic minced

6 cups canola oil for frying
18 crimini mushrooms scrubbed clean, stemmed, and quartered.
1 cup cornstarch
1 ½ cup seltzer water
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 lemon

½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sirachi sauce

6 sesame Kaiser rolls split
¼ cup butter
6 romaine lettuces

Instructions:

Prepare the grill to medium high heat.

Prepare the beef patties by combining the ground chuck, salt, pepper, garlic, pinot noir, and cornstarch. Make 6 patties. Refrigerate until ready to grill.

Heat canola oil in a 9 inch fireproof skillet on grill until about 350 F. Prepare tempura batter by whisking and combining 1 cup cornstarch, seltzer water, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Coat all the mushroom pieces with the tempura batter. Fry in 3-4 batches for about 3-5 minutes, until golden. Place on paper towels to catch excess oil. While the mushrooms are cooling, squeeze lemon juice over them.

Brush grill rack with vegetable oil. Place patties on rack, cover, cook, and turn over once depending on preference. It will be about 4-6 minutes for each side for medium.

Combine mayonnaise and sirachi sauce to make a spicy aioli.

Prepare slit Kaiser rolls by spreading butter on each slice of roll. Place cut side down of roll on grill for 2-3 minutes.

Assemble patties but spreading spicy aioli on each slice of the roll. Place a slice of lettuce, patty, 8-10 pieces of the quartered tempura mushrooms. Then add roll top and serve immediately. Serves 6.