Hey everybody! Today, I decided to do a post on a classic American dish with a little bit of an upscale flare to it. I wanted to make cheeseburgers and fries, but with more distinct, and not-so-common flavors. I settled on gorgonzola stuffed burgers, with caramelized onions and a balsamic reduction. The flavors really go well together, especially with the sharpness of the gorgonzola and the balsamic vinegar, with the sweet, smooth flavor of the caramelized onions. It's really a great dish and I hope you try it!
First, you want to start by seasoning your ground beef. I added paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, some fresh parsley and a little bit of cayenne pepper.
Next, you're going to want to find yourself a small block of gorgonzola cheese.
Get about half of the amount you would use for the size of a burger, and fill it with some crumbles of the gorgonzola. Then, you're going to want to take the other half amount of seasoned meat, and put it on top, and seal the sides shut. This way, when we grill it, it will be nice, juicy, seasoned beef with fresh gorgonzola oozing out of the center. It will be great, and look great, too!
Next, you want to just melt about a tablespoon or so of butter in a pan.
Then, you want to add the onions to the melted butter. I used vidalia onions because I find they offer the most in the sweet department. The best way to achieve caramelized onions is low and slow; meaning you keep the heat low, and take the extra time to cook the onions. You want there to be stages. The first stage is for the to become translucent, then they start to brown. However, its not spots of brown but an overall, uniform brown tone to the pan. This happens because the natural sugars are coming out and being cooked.
They should look something like this when they're done.
Now, onto the balsamic reduction. This is so simple, and adds a great touch to the plating presentation, as well as the flavor profile of the burger. All you have to do it pour the balsamic vinegar into a pot, or a shallow saucepan, and let it lightly simmer until it thickens. Essentially, you are waiting for the extra liquids to evaporate, and you get a reduced, thickened sauce with a more powerful flavor.
Once you see a little bit of froth on top like you can see in the picture above, its all done and take it off the heat immediately before it over cooks.
I put the reduction into this little beginners cake decorator my Mom got me when I was about 10 and first started actually piping onto cakes. I kept it in my section of the kitchen, and it came in handy with this dish for plating purposes.
The next step is to grill the burgers, and toast the buns. Sometimes I opt out of toasting buns on regular burgers because I think if the bun is so fresh, that toasting it is taking away some of the characteristics that attract you to fresh bread- but hey, to each his own. Thats another post. I think toasted buns go great on this dish because they add a little bit of a crispiness, therefore adding a lot to the dish texturally.
I decided to also serve this with some dill potato wedges. I just tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil and fresh dill and baked them until they were soft on the inside and crispy on the outside-too easy!
For plating, you want to take a toasted bun, put one of the patties on top of it, and top it with a little bit of the balsamic reduction, and some caramelized onions. I also put a couple drops of the balsamic reduction on the side of the plate for looks. I really liked this dish and definitely recommend that you try it. If you do, let me know how you like it!
