Gorgonzola Juicy Lucy Hamburger with Sautéed Onions and Mushrooms, Garlic Aioli Paired with 2009 Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet

This pairing was inspired by my recent and intense exploration of California blends and an episode of America’s Test Kitchen.  If you have not explored the many blends coming out of California, I recommend you give them a chance.  Most popular among these blends are a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel.  Of course there are other blends, but these seem to be the dominant grapes used in these proprietary blends.

Out of the many I have recently tasted, I am very pleased.  It is a tough job, but I am up to the challenge.  These wines are smooth, layered with flavor, and generally inexpensive.  The 2009 Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet was next on deck and was my choice to pair with the Juicy Lucy Hamburger.

Before viewing the episode of America’s Test Kitchen that inspired this pairing, I had never heard of a Juicy Lucy Hamburger.  Simply put, a Juicy Lucy is a hamburger stuffed with cheese.  According to Wikipedia;

“Two bars on the same street in South Minneapolis both claim to have invented the sandwich: Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club. They differ in how they spell it; the former omits the letter "I" in "Juicy", while the latter uses the standard spelling. Shirts worn by staff at the 5-8 Club have the motto "if it's spelled right, it's done right" while advertising for Matt's Bar says, "if it's spelled correctly, you're at the wrong place."

If you are like me, the Juicy Lucy solves an important hamburger challenge – melted cheese.  I consider the construction of a hamburger something of utmost importance.  In other words, all the stuff that goes on a hamburger must be placed in a specific order to ensure the flavors combine optimally, and most importantly, the cheese must be placed directly on the burger to ensure it melts. 

There may be a few of you that are thinking I’m a lunatic.  But most of you will secretly admit you have your own routine and rationale for the proper order of hamburger ingredients.  I know you do – don’t be shy.

The Juicy Lucy elegantly takes care of the melted cheese issue by putting the cheese inside the burger and ensuring gooey, cheesy goodness in every bite – and no sliding cheese issues.  America’s Test Kitchen went into great detail on the best way to form the burger with the cheesy surprise in the middle.  They suggested taking a chunk of cheese and forming a small burger around the cheese to seal it completely.  The next step involves adding another layer of ground beef to form a fully sized patty.

Chef Sue decided she wanted to use crumbled gorgonzola which made the America’s Test Kitchen method difficult.  Chef Sue decided to go with two thin patties to encapsulate the cheese and firmly seal the edges to keep the cheese in place.

Chef Sue also decided to make her own hamburger from fresh sirloin and a handful of other ingredients you will find in the recipe.  Chef Sue’s unbridled creativity paid great dividends.  The burger was absolutely fantastic.

To accompany our Juicy Lucy hamburgers we chose the next California blend which was patiently waiting on deck – the 2009 Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet.  From the winemaker:

“Our first blended red wine for Cupcake Vineyards has over the top aromas of chocolate, deep rich blackberries, red fruits that follow through the palate to a creamy mocha finish that is unmistakable in its intensity and length, with a hint of coconut. It’s reminiscent of a blackberry chocolate cupcake with a mocha coulis.”

“Red Velvet is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah; each variety lending structure, aroma, depth of flavor and a long creamy finish to this wine.   The grapes were harvested from some of the finest vineyards of California’s viticultural areas; each picked for their ability to engender these grapes with distinct characteristics that will add to this blend. Each varietal was fermented separately and later blended and put through a unique oak regime that imparts a certain creaminess.”

We concurred with the tasting notes with the exception of the hint of coconut we did not pick up.  The body of this wine was perfectly matched to the hamburger and the chocolate and fruit flavors were a wonderful complement.  The wine also worked surprisingly well with the twisted pasta and vegetables we chose to accompany the burger.  Overall, this was an exceptional pairing.

This pairing is another great choice for your grilling season and certainly works great as another arrow in your quiver of great football food.

Recipes

Gorgonzola Juicy Lucy

Ingredients

• 1 pound sirloin
• 10 cloves roasted garlic
• 4 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• 1/2 medium red onion (for burger mixture)
• 1 red onion, sliced, to top burger
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 6 cloves roasted garlic (for burger topping)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation

1. Run sirloin, garlic and onion through meat grinder
2. Combine salt and olive oil with ground sirloin.
3. Form two thin patties, about 3/8" thick. (you will have enough ground sirloin for four complete burgers)
4. On one patty place 1 tablespoon of gorgonzola cheese in the center.
5. Top with second patty, and form into a single patty.
6. Continue until you have prepared all four burgers.
7. Place on preheated grill for four minutes.
8. Flip, puncture with a small hole to release the steam from the cheese, and continue to grill for another three minutes.
9. Top with sautéed onions, mushrooms, and garlic.
10. Drizzle with garlic aioli

Twisted Pasta with Anchovies and Fresh Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound fettuccini (Chef Sue made fresh pasta and twisted)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 roasted red pepper
• 3 anchovy fillets finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon capers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 ounce grated parmesan cheese.
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Sauté garlic and anchovies in olive oil and lemon juice.
2. Add remaining vegetables and 1/2 cup liquid from the pasta boil
3. When the tomatoes become soft, add pasta, remove from heat and let set for 2 minutes.
4. Season to taste.
5. Top with grated parmesan.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Trinidad Doubles, Cucumber Chutney, Trinidad Pepper Sauce Paired with 2010 Cupcake Vineyards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

At the time of this post, the most viewed pairing/recipe to date is “Curried Chicken and Potato Roti Paired with Chenin Blanc.”  The Roti post is so popular that it triples the next most popular post “Shrimp and Grits Paired with 2009 Cuvaison Chardonnay.”  The clear message is that there are a boatload of Trini food lovers out there.  With this in mind, I decided to press on with my next favorite Trini culinary delight – doubles.

For the uninitiated, doubles are a favorite street food among Trinidadians as well as the many visitors to Trinidad.  Next to roti, doubles are a bucket list worthy experience for anyone visiting Trinidad.  In my opinion, your gastronomic adventure in Trinidad must also include “shark and bake,” coconut water fresh from one of the Savannah vendors, corn soup, and cow heel soup.  Back to the double – doubles consist of two rounds of fried dough served with channa (curry spiced chick peas) and traditionally topped with cucumber chutney and the ever present Trinidad pepper sauce.  If you are visiting Trinidad and have not experienced the wonders of Trinidad pepper sauce, I recommend caution.  Doubles vendors will offer a slight, medium, or spicy option for your double.  I suggest starting with the “slight,” and work your way up the heat chain.  While on the subject of pepper sauce, it is interesting to note that Trinidad pepper sauce is a matter of national pride and every family has their favorite secret recipe for “the best” pepper sauce.  Sampling these highly guarded recipes is a sensational experience – in the truest sense of the word.

Like roti, doubles vendors pepper (pepper, get it?) the Trinidad landscape.  Although doubles are a relatively simple dish with little variation in the ingredients and preparation, ask any Trini and you will promptly be directed to their favorite vendor.  The origin and history of doubles are clouded in myth.  The apparent best accounts track doubles to the valleys of the Ganges in Northern India where many Trindadians can trace their roots.  Over the years, and as these East Indian laborers were released from indenture, small shops and stalls were established by entrepreneurs and the evolution of the double became a Trinidad staple.

Doubles are constructed by by placing two of the fried dough rounds (barra) on a piece of thin waxed paper, adding a serving of channa and topping with cucumber chutney and pepper sauce.  The waxed paper is then folded up at the corners bringing the double into somewhat of a taco type configuration, then expertly spun by the corners to hold everything together.  I have witnessed two primary methods for eating a double.  The first method involves carefully opening the waxed paper, using the waxed paper as a way to hold things together and eating the double in taco fashion.  The second method involves fully opening the waxed paper, removing the bottom barra and using it to scoop or pinch the channa while leaving the second barra to act as a kind of plate supported by the waxed paper.  When you are done with the bottom/scoop barra, enough of the channa sauce will remain to accompany the remaining barra.  Clear as a rainbow leading to a pot of gold, right?

As you might expect, the flavors in a double are dominated by the curry, tumeric and piquance of the pepper sauce.  These are supported by the deep buttery flavors of the chick peas and barra and a nice cool freshness of the cucumber chutney.  For such wonderfully simple food, this combination of flavors results in a wonderful layering for which each component can be readily discerned – as long as you use the pepper sauce in moderation.  Heavy use of the pepper sauce tends to overwhelm the other flavors and tips the balance in favor of the piquance.  This is not a bad thing – it just depends on whether you are in the mood for some serious heat, or desire a more balanced flavor profile.

Like many of the spicy foods I have written about and paired, doubles require attention to overall balance in acidity, sweetness, body, and alcohol content.  In choosing the wine, I not only wanted to account for these characteristics, but also pay homage to the casual, street food heritage of the double.  In other words, I needed to find a wine with the right profile and keep it casual rather than something more pricey, complex, or extravagant.  For these reasons, I chose the 2010 Cupcake Vineyards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc – a staple for many of my friends who look for an inexpensive wine they can enjoy regularly in the summer heat of Washington DC.  Here are the tasting notes from the winemaker:

“It’s the long cool season that allows the grapes to mature slowly, giving them levels of complexity and a vibrant zing, reminiscent of a lemon chiffon cupcake. It’s made up of integrated flavors of Meyer lemons, Key limes and a finish that awakens the appetite.”

This wine features bright citrus flavors with lemon taking the lead role.  The citrus flavors are supported by healthy acidity which in combination makes this wine both very refreshing and a piece of cake for wine pairing.  It is not as sweet as many Sauvignon Blancs.  While not critical, a touch more sweetness would have helped balance the piquance of the Trinidad Pepper Sauce and the cucumber chutney.  Overall, the pairing was a rousing success.  Doubles remind me of standing in the streets of Port of Spain Trinidad – in temperatures not unlike our DC summers – and enjoying some doubles at one of the many stands.  The crisp freshness of the 2010 Cupcake Vineyards Sauvignon brought a cool invigoration to the memory of Trinidad, and the heat of the doubles. 

Recipes

Trinidad Pepper Sauce

The following recipe for Trinidad Pepper Sauce is very similar to others you will find around the web.  The big difference with my interpretation is using a variety of peppers.  I did this with the intent of adding some depth of flavor to the intense heat.  I think I succeeded, but I won’t really know until my tongue grows back.  Unless you are Trini through and through, this recipe makes enough Trinidad Pepper Sauce to last several years, if not a lifetime.

Ingredients

• 5 Scotch Bonnet peppers
• 5 Serrano peppers
• 5 habanero peppers
• 5 Jalapeno peppers
• 5 Hot cherry peppers
• 3 heads of garlic
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2 bundles fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Separate and clean garlic.
2. Wash and coarsely chop cilantro, removing large stem pieces.
3. Add garlic, cilantro, and 1 cup of vinegar to a blender. Blend until nearly smooth. Pour into bowl and set aside.
4. Remove stems from peppers and add to blender with one cup of vinegar. Blend until nearly smooth.
5. Add pureed peppers to garlic and cilantro mixture. Add salt and mustard; stir until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour into a clean bottle or jar, cap, and store in a cool place or the fridge. Don’t forget to label with "XXX," skull and crossed bones, or a toxic warning sticker. This stuff if potent and could do untold damage in the wrong hands.

Cucumber Chutney

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon finely diced fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon Trinidad Pepper Sauce
• 4 cloves garlic finely diced
• Juice from 1/2 of a freshly squeezed lime
• 1/2 teaspoon - brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Julienne cucumber. If it is a long cucumber, cut to lengths of about two to three inches. Do not discard the center section with the seeds - julienne this as well - it will add moisture to the chutney.
2. Place cucumber in a bowl and add garlic, cilantro, Trinidad pepper sauce, and chives.
3. Adjust flavor with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and additional Trinidad pepper sauce. I would recommend using a light hand with the pepper sauce - you can always add more later.

Barra

Ingredients

• 4 cups - all purpose flour
• Dash of saffron powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric root powder
• 3 teaspoons - yeast
• 1 teaspoon - brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon - salt
• Canola oil for frying

Preparation

1. Put 1 cup of lukewarm water in a small bowl, add sugar and stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast over water and let sit until the yeas has activated and formed a thin cohesive mound over the surface of the water.
2. Combine flour, salt, saffron, 1 cup of water, cumin and yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of your Kitchen Aid.
3. Mix into a slightly firm dough - it will be plenty sticky. Adjust with water or flour to arrive at a consistency a bit less firm than peanut butter. Cover and let rise to double original volume.
4. Form dough into balls just a bit larger than golf balls. Coating your hands with oil will ease the process.
5. While assembling your golf balls, put a pot of oil (just an inch or so deep with oil) on to heat.
6. After you have assembled your golf balls, pat and roll the balls into thin circles roughly four inches in diameter. The thinner, the better.
7. Fry in hot oil, turning once. The dough turns a nice golden brown quickly, so pay attention.
8. Drain on plate with paper towels and cover to keep in the moisture. Stacking as you produce the barra is acceptable, and even encouraged.
9. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Channa

Ingredients

• 1 (16oz) can of chick peas or garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric root powder
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium sliced onion
• 4 cloves finely diced garlic
• 2 tablespoons finely diced fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon Trinidad pepper sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Sautee onions in the vegetable oil over medium high heat until translucent.
2. Reduce heat to medium and add all remaining ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined.
3. Add water to cover the chick peas by about one inch, then raise the heat and boil chick peas until soft.
4. Remove about 1/4 of the chick peas and crush with a potato masher. Recombine and stir to incorporate. This should leave you with mostly intact chick peas, with the small part that was mashed becoming a thick sauce.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig