Apple Onion Burger

Pairs well with:

Merlot

Get cozy and get pouring. Our Merlot is the wine for long weekends and lengthy chats.

Ingredients

Carmelized Onions:
1 Large sweet onion (Vidalia, Walla Walla, or Maui) sliced thin
2T Olive oil
2T Butter
Fried Onions:
1 Large sweet onion sliced into 1/8 to 1/4 inch rings and soak in cold water
1C all purpose flour
2t salt
1/2t ground black pepper
1Q vegetable oil
Patties:
1 lb ground chuck
1 lb ground sirloin
1 C red wine (Sutter Home Merlot) reduced to 1-2T
1T Worcestershire sauce
3T cold butter
Vegetable oil for brushing grill
6 Kaiser rolls, split
6 oz frozen blue cheese
2 tart crisp apples such as granny smith or ginger crisp, cored and sliced into thin rounds

 

Instructions

Preheat gas grill over low heat. To carmelize onions, combine butter and olive oil in a 10 inch fire proof skillet and place on grill rack until butter is melted. Add sliced onions. Cook onions over low heat, stirring occasionally until onions are carmelized (approximately 30 minutes). Remove pan from heat and set aside. Increase heat to medium high. To fry onions, put 1Q of vegetable oil in a large fire proof stockpot and place on grill rack. Combine flour, salt, and pepper into gallon size zipper lock bag. Remove oinion rings from water. Without shaking off excess water, pt onions in flour mixture, seal bag, and shake to completely coat onions. When oil registers 375 degrees F, remove onions from bag, shake off excess flour, and fry until golden brown and crisp (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat and place onions on draining rack. In the meantime, reduce 1 cup of wine to approximately 2 T. Place the 1C of wine in fireproof sauce pan. Reduce liquid, stirring occasionally until reduced to about 2 T. To make patties, combine the chuck, sirloin, reduced wine, and worcestershire sauce. Handling mixture as little as possible, mix well. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions and form into patties. Make an indentation in the middle of the patty. Place 1 1/2 t cold butter in the middle of each patty and then form the patty around the butter. Brush grill with vegetable oil. Place patties on rack and cook turning once until done to preference (5-7 minutes per side for medium). During final minutes of grilling, place rolls, cut side down on outer part of grill to lightly toast. Meanwhile grate frozen cheese with a rasp grater and set aside. Remove patties and rolls from grill. To assemble, place the two types of onions on bottom half of roll, place patty on the onions, place approximately 1 to 2 T of grated cheese on patty, and top with 2 apple slices and roll top. Serve.