Island Zin Burgers with Scotch Bonnet Jam

Pairs well with:

Pinot Grigio

You won’t need a bouquet of flowers when you share our Pinot Grigio. This crisp wine with floral aromas is a wonderful way to make an entrance.

We live near Galveston Island, Texas and regularly vacation there.We have vacationed on the island for the last 30 years and have many memories. The island is beautiful and full of wonderful restaurants that combine upscale flare with island flavors. This burger captures this combination with flavors that take you to the tropics. The burger includes a delicious scotch bonnet jam that heats this burger up and makes it a true island delight.

Ingredients:

Scotch Bonnet Jam

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 fresh Scotch Bonnet peppers seeded and sliced it fourths

¼ cup yellow onion chopped

1 cup apricot preserves

Patties

1½ pounds ground chuck

3 roasted red peppers chopped

½ cup yellow onion chopped

1 teaspoon dry mustard

3 teaspoons jerk seasoning

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup Sutter Home White Zinfandel

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

olive oil for brushing the grill rack

6 French rolls split

olive oil for brushing the rolls

6 leaves Romaine Lettuce

1/2 red onion very thinly sliced and parted into rings

Instructions:

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Jam prep: 10 Burger prep: 15

Jam cook 20 burger cook 10

Directions

Prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill with a cover, or preheat a gas grill to medium-high.

To make the Scotch Bonnet Jam, heat olive oil in a fireproof skillet. Sauté Scotch Bonnet peppers until slightly roasted. Remove peppers from skillet and set aside. Sauté onions until almost clear. Place roasted Scotch Bonnet peppers and onions in a small food processor and blend to a finely chopped consistency. In a small bowl, stir pepper and onion mixture into apricot preserves until well blended. Set aside until serving.

To make the patties, place ground chuck in a large bowl. Chop roasted red peppers and onion and place on top of ground chuck. Add mustard, jerk seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, Zinfandel, and seasoned salt. Mix gently as not to over handle the ground sirloin. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions and form patties.

Brush the grill rack with olive oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover and grill 4 – 5 minutes. While patties cook on the first side, brush inside of each roll with olive oil and set aside. Turn patties and continue to grill until cooked to preference, approximately 5 minutes for medium cooked burgers. As soon as patties are turned, place rolls on outer portion of the grill rack, open side down to slightly toast.

Remove toasted rolls from grill and place each on a plate open. Place one burger on each bottom roll. Place approximately 1 ½ tablespoons Scotch Bonnet Jam on top of each burger, then add three torn (use sides of leaves only) leaves of Romaine lettuce and two individual rings of red onion. Then close with the top half of the roll and serve.