With several weeks to enjoy before a new school year resets our daily routine, we’ve been trying to get our grill on whenever we can. Plus, the grill comes in handy when kitchen indoors is getting a minor facelift. Recently, we celebrated Hubby’s birthday. I remembered him mentioning something recipe for Cabernet Burgers with Blue Cheese awhile back. He’s the biggest fan of all blue cheese varieties… Gorgonzola, Roquefort, local blue… all of it.

We love our burgers around here. Especially big, juicy, perfectly medium-cooked and well-seasoned burgers. The kiddos want theirs how kids want them… just meat and cheese. But the grown-ups love a little gourmet flair thrown in for fun.

These Cabernet Burgers with Blue Cheese were inhaled so quickly, it’s surprising a few pics could even be snuck in before the burgers were snatched up. Fresh, quality ingredients are essential to a nosh-worthy burger. These tasty boys are made of 80/20 fresh ground beef, vine-ripened farmer’s tomatoes, crisp lettuce, garlicky sauteed mushrooms, and melty blue cheese.

Thick, chewy buns are a must with these hefty Cabernet burgers. Because the burgers are huge, juicy, and rich with flavor, it needs a hearty bun that can handle it. Out of the buns we tried, our fave was actually sandwich-size Ciabatta buns or rolls (those ones did get snatched up, so no photo opp for those…sorry!) Ciabatta buns have those beautiful holed grooves that hold garlic butter perfectly and toast up just right. They are also hearty and chewy, which is the perfect match for Cabernet Burgers. Strongly recommended.

Serve up a bottle of the same Cabernet you use for the burgers. It needn’t be a pricey bottle, but a decent one that you enjoy would be perfect. If you love the taste of a certain wine, that’s the one you want to cook with, because cooking doesn’t improve the flavor of a wine. We loved how a glass of Cabernet paired so well with burgers made with the same Cab. Enjoy the rest of grilling season!

Cabernet Burgers with Blue Cheese Author: Chew Out Loud

Yield: 6 1 x

Category: main dish, grill Print Pin Description These Cabernet Burgers are perfect for the grill and are juicy and tasty. Anyone who loves Blue Cheese will adore these burgers! Scale 1x 2x 3x Ingredients 1 (750 ml) good-tasting bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon

(750 ml) good-tasting bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon 1/4 cup minced shallots

minced shallots 8 oz sliced mushrooms

sliced mushrooms 2 TB olive oil

TB olive oil 4 cloves minced garlic, divided in half

cloves minced garlic, divided in half 3 tsp minced fresh rosemary

minced fresh rosemary 6 TB salted butter, room temp, divided

TB salted butter, room temp, divided 2 tsp packed brown sugar

packed brown sugar 2 lbs (80/20) fresh ground beef

lbs (80/20) fresh ground beef 1 tsp table salt

table salt 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

fresh cracked black pepper 1 cup ( 6 oz ) fresh blue cheese, crumbled (Gorgonzola or Roquefort are great, too)

( ) fresh blue cheese, crumbled (Gorgonzola or Roquefort are great, too) 6 squares of Ciabatta sandwich-sized buns, split horizontally

squares of Ciabatta sandwich-sized buns, split horizontally Freshly sliced tomatoes and lettuce leaves Instructions Combine wine and shallots in a heavy medium saucepan, and bring to boil. Reduce to a low-medium boil and keep it going for 20-30 minutes, or until sauce is reduced to 2/3 cup worth. Add fresh rosemary, 1 TB butter, and brown sugar. Cook and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat to cool a bit. Saute mushrooms, olive oil, and 2 tsp garlic until mushrooms are just tender. Drain and set aside. In small bowl, combine remaining butter with garlic. Melt the butter in microwave, and spread on split Ciabatta buns. Set aside. Mix fresh ground beef, salt, pepper, and half of the wine sauce. Form into six even burger patties. Grill burgers until desired doneness, basting generously with remaining wine sauce continually. Sprinkle tops of patties with blue cheese crumbles and keep warm until cheese melts. Grill Ciabatta buns with buttered sides down, until nicely toasted. Alternatively, buns can be toasted in oven’s broiler or in toaster oven. Arrange burgers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and lettuce on Ciabatta. Enjoy!