The Contemporary Wisconsin Butter Burger

Pairs well with:

Chardonnay

Reach for our Chardonnay when you’re in the mood for a rich and creamy wine that delights with the fruity flair of pear, apple, and peach.

Ingredients:

Apple-Raisin Chutney:
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and roughly diced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Water, to cover

Patties:
2 pounds ground Angus beef
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil, for brushing on the grill rack
6 ounces Wisconsin blue cheese, crumbled
6 Kaiser rolls, split
2 sticks good-quality sweet cream butter, room temperature
3 cups spring mix greens

Instructions:

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

To make Apple-Raisin Chutney, in a small fireproof non-stick saucepan, add apples, raisins, onion, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon; mix until well combined. Cover with water and place on the grill; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently. If necessary, add more water and once again cook until most of the liquid has evaporated in order to get the proper texture (where most of the ingredients have reasonably “broken down”). Set aside.

To make the patties, combine the beef, celery, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the rolls.

Brush the grill rack with oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover, and cook, turning once, just until done, about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. During the last few minutes of cooking, top the burgers with equal amounts of blue cheese and place the rolls, cut side down, on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly.

To assemble the burgers, spread a generous amount of Apple-Raisin Chutney on the cut side of the roll bottoms and a very generous amount of butter on the cut side of the roll tops. On each roll bottom, place equal amounts of spring mix greens and a cheese-topped patty. Add the roll tops and serve.

Makes 6 burgers.