Mediterranean Burger

For some reason I do not do to many burgers on the grill (heck, I haven’t even had a chance to light up the grill in a long time), even though it is very easy to get creative with the recipes.  This is a great example of a creative burger recipe that provides a lot of wonderful flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 2 tablespoons fennel seed, finely ground
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, finely ground
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 red peppers
• Fresh blue cheese, crumbled
• Salt
• Cracked peppercorns
• Olive oil
• 6 4-inch square Focaccia rolls (I used a tomato basil focaccia roll)

Instructions:

Start off by preparing the grill for high direct heat.  Rinse the bell peppers with water and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place on the grill over direct heat.  Rotate the peppers about every 5 minutes, till the skin is well blistered.  Place in a bowl and cover with saran wrap.  Let sit in the bowl till they are cool enough to handle.

Prepare the burgers by combining the ground sirloin, fennel, red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar.  Make sure to mix the beef mixture thoroughly.  Form the mixture into six burger patties, and coat lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle on some salt and the cracked peppercorns onto each burger patty.

Grill over direct heat until the desired doneness.

As the burgers grill, the peppers should be cool enough to handle.  Remove the stem and seeds from the peppers and peel off the skin.  At this time it should come off nice and easily.  Slice the peppers into 1 inch strips.

As the burgers are close to being done, slice the focaccia rolls in half and toast on the grill, cut side down.

Remove the burgers and focaccia rolls.  To make the burgers place the burger on the bottoms side of the focaccia roll, topped off with some of the sliced red peppers, and then the crumbled blue cheese.

Results:

These were absolutely amazing burgers!  For the vegetarian/non-beef eater, try portabellas that have been lightly seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then grilled.  I did this for my wife, and they were absolutely amazing to.