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Sip’s! “Wine & Cheese” Burger

Red Wine and Blue Cheeseburger

You know me. I tend to be wordy.

I tend to go on and on telling you why I like something. Or what it means to me. Maybe I’ll feel the need to thoroughly explain every little detail in making a particular dish.

I can’t help it. It is just the way I am.

But today may be a bit different.

My brother Grant (Sip!) sent me one of his burger recipes to include in my weeklong (yearlong?) tribute the great American burger.

He is Sip! as you know, so he came up with a very cleverly named “Wine & Cheese” Burger. Which at first kinda irritated me. I mean I like to be the brother who is clever with words.

The reason it turns out this name is so clever is because it is a burger that really does pair up wine and cheese as ingredients. Red wine and blue cheese. One in a “jam” topping. The other “infused” in the meat.

He has taken his cleverness a step further and done another excellent wine pairing for this burger.

So I thought, “he went to so much trouble. The least I can do is make the damn burger”.

So, I did. I think you’ll see why I have chosen to shut up and eat! GREG

Red Wine and Blue Cheeseburger 

Print This Recipe Total time Yield 4Source Adapted from Grant HenryPublished
Red Wine and Blue Cheeseburger

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 red onions (halved and thinly sliced)
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 ounce blue cheese (softened, plus a bit more for topping the burger)
  • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1 ½ pound ground sirloin
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 Kaiser rolls (split)
  • 4 ounce fresh arugula

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saute pan on medium-low heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the wine, vinegar, honey, raisins and thyme and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated, five to seven minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. The jam can be made two days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.
5. In a small bowl, blend the roquefort with the butter.
6. Scrape the butter onto plastic wrap and roll into a 4‑inch cylinder. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Slice the butter into 4 disks.
7. Gently shape the ground sirloin into 4 thick patties. Using a spoon or melon baller scoop out a small amount from the center of each burger. Then with your thumb, make a clean, smooth depression in the center of each patty and fill with a disk of Roquefort butter. Return the scooped out meat to the indentation. Then press and fold the meat over to encase the butter completely. Gently pat the burger into a plump rounded patty.
8. Season the burgers with salt and pepper and grill over a medium-hot fire until browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side.
9. Brush the cut sides of the rolls with the olive oil and grill until lightly browned, about 10 seconds.
10. Set the burgers on the rolls, top each with the ¼ of the wine-braised onion jam and arugula. You may also crumble a bit more blue cheese on top if you are so inclined. Serve hot and juicy!