TURKISH SPICED BURGERS WITH SPIKED CARAMELIZED FENNEL

Pairs well with:

Chenin Blanc

This wine is bursting with crisp, refreshing fruit flavors like apple, pear, and melon, making you want to swing your legs off a dock at sunset.

Ingredients

Creamy Mustard Apricot Sauce:
3/4 cup Mild & Creamy Grey Poupon Mustard
3 tablespoons apricot fruit spread
Patties:
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper-from peppercorns
2-pounds boneless chuck steak-well marbled
1/2 tablespoon Colavita Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/2 cup minced sweet onion
2 cloves garlic-minced
Spiked Caramelized Fennel:
1-1/2 tablespoons Colavita Extra Virgin Olive oil
2 fresh fennel bulbs, trimmed, halved, core removed and very thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup Sutter Home Chenin Blanc
1/2 teaspoon salt
Olive oil to brush grill rack
2 teaspoons salt (for patties)
6 thin slices goat milk mild cheddar cheese
6 cracked whole wheat buns-split
1 large avocado-peel, remove pit and slice into 12 thin wedges

 

Instructions

To make sauce, whisk mustard and fruit spread together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving. To make patties, combine coriander, cumin, pumpkin pie spice and black pepper in a saucer; stir together. Place steak on a plate; rub both sides of steak with spice mixture. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat a gas grill for grilling at medium-high heat or prepare a charcoal fire for both direct and indirect cooking (hot and medium-high) in a charcoal grill. When medium-high heat is reached, heat olive oil in a small fire-proof skillet on grill rack. Add onion and garlic. Saute until soft, stirring frequently-about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. After 30 minutes of chilling steak, cut steak into 1-1/2 inch cubes. Using a food processor fitted with a blade (or meat grinder), process meat in four batches, until coarsely chopped. Transfer steak to a bowl. Add sauteed onion/garlic mixture to beef; mix together handling steak as little as possible. Form 6 patties about 1/2-inch thick; refrigerate patties until needed. To make spiked caramelized fennel, toss fennel and olive oil together in a large nonstick fireproof skillet. Place skillet on grill over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently for about 15 to 20 minutes or until fennel is golden and tender. Add wine; stir until most liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Salt fennel and stir. Cover skillet; set aside until needed. Brush oil over grill rack. Retrieve patties and salt both sides of each patty. Place patties over medium-high heat and grill until brown on bottom-about 3 minutes. Turn patties and grill until patties are cooked to desired doneness or about 3 to 4 minutes for medium, topping with a slice of cheese the final few minutes of cooking. Transfer burgers to a plate. Place rolls, cut side down on grill and lightly toast. To assemble burgers, place some fennel on each roll bottom. Top with a burger and then abit more fennel-dividing fennel equally among burgers. Add 2 wedges of avocado. Spread sauce over cut side of each roll top and cover burger. Pass remaining sauce when serving. 6 burgers