Which Red Wine with Gourmet Burgers? Why not crack open a bottle of Naked on Roller-skates Shiraz Mataro, from McLaren Vale, Australia. Although the label is fun, the idea comes from the novel Pulp Fiction, this is a serious wine, an old and new world blend. Made by a group of Aussie winemakers led by Colin McBryde, who go by the name of Some Young Punks, this is a full bodied red wine with flavours of dark fruits, cassis, liquorice and cries out for a good piece of meat.
I really enjoy a succulent burger but often find when I go out that burgers can be too dry and without flavour. There are exceptions of course with the boom in gourmet burger restaurants, however if you want homemade gourmet quality burgers why not give this recipe a go.
List of ingredients:
- 1 bottle Some Young Punks Naked On Roller-skates, Australia
- 500g Beef Mince
- 250g Pork Mince
- (If you can, go to your local butcher and ask for the meat to be minced for you)
- 1 egg
- Handful of breadcrumbs ( Make your own its very easy to do tastes much better and the keep well in the freezer)
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- Splash of Lea & Perrins Worcester Sauce
- Cumin seeds
- Curry powder
- 6 rashers of bacon
- 6 slices of cheese, semi cured.
Mix all the ingredients together with you hands until the consistency changes from squidgy to smooth and firm. Make 6 medium size burgers, squeeze them until compact and put them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before barbecuing.
Crack the seal on the bottle, Naked on Roller skates has a screw cap which I know for some of you takes a bit of getting used to, check out my blog on wine closures, Swirl the wine in your glass to get some air into it and take a good sniff prior to drinking. What aromas do you notice? I get dark berry fruits and a touch of cassis.
Get the barbecue nice and hot and place the burgers on the rack. It is important to seal the burgers so cook them for around a minute on each side until lightly browned. Then reduce the temperature, or raise the rack, and leave the burgers to cook until ready, flipping occasionally. It is not always easy to know when the meat is properly cooked inside, so gently break one open and just check to see that it is cooked through.
While the burgers are cooking put the bacon rashers on the barbecue and cook until crispy. When the burgers are nearly done add the slices of cheese to melt over the burger.
Gently toast the burger bread on the barbecue and then put everything together and enjoy with another glass of Shiraz, by now the wine will have opened up and be much more expressive.
