#BurgerMonth is in full swing, and my second contribution, this crazy-good Red Wine Espresso Patty Melt Burger, is one that you can master indoors or out! The subtleness of the red wine and brewed espresso infused into both the burger, as well as the rich mushrooms and onions, the creaminess of the fontina cheese, the smokiness of the bacon, and the crispy, golden-grilled and buttery rye bread, will have you swooning!

 

(*And as before, this is not a sponsored post, and any and all opinions of products, and the burger creation itself, are solely my own.)

 

So don’t miss out on this once a year, incredible event hosted by Kita Roberts of Girl Carnivore, that brings over 50 bloggers together from all across the country to create outstanding burgers for you all to make the whole summer long (and then some)! Be sure to check out everyone’s burgers per the links in this year’s participants list below!

AND! And!! (Don’t go anywhere..!!) There’s also an awesome #Giveaway going on that you can enter to win some killer grill swag, PLUS a chance to win the Grand Prize! (*Details below!)

 

 

 

 

Since the weather doesn’t always cooperate in May, and not everyone, such as apartment and high-rise dwellers, can have the option of outdoor grilling, my two burgers this year, (the first one you can find here!), can be made right in your own kitchen or outdoors.

There’s truly something to be said about pan and griddle-fried burgers, because that caramelization you can get is to die for! So, if you don’t have a grill, you can still make an incredible burger!

So, let’s make these awesome burgers! Ready? Let’s rock!

 

 

 

 

 

Since these were going onto rye bread, I made these oblong and of course larger than the bread slices. That way they’ll fit perfectly once they’re done. I also believe in heavily seasoning the outside just before cooking! A nice amount of salt, and quite a LOT of two different grinds of pepper.

Too much coarse ground can be “biting”, grainy, and bitter, so I always use both regular, fully-ground table-style pepper, as well as coarse ground. (Heavier on the regular, and don’t be shy with it. When you think you might be adding too much, add a little bit more, and it’s perfect!) This works extremely well. Lots of flavor without the grit.

So after adding the chilled espresso and red wine, form them into the right sized patties that you need, place them onto prepared sheets, cover them and let them chill while you get part two going. You’ll want to season them, though, right before they go onto the griddle. Especially the salt. Salt draws out moisture, and we definitely don’t want to do that!

 

 

 

 

Next comes what every patty melt hopes to have on it, golden browned mushrooms and onions! Add them into a frying pan with some smoked butter and some coarse ground black pepper. Don’t add salt until later, though.

 

 

  

 

 

This is the butter that we use for this. It’s absolutely AWESOME, 84% butterfat, with NO artificial flavors or additives. Real maple wood smoked butter!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sauté them low and slow, until everything is gorgeously golden and irresistibly delicious. Now you can add a little salt.

 

 

 

Add some red wine, (I used a nice cabernet sauvignon), and a shot of freshly brewed espresso. Stir everything in, and simmer until reduced and thickened to a beautifully rich gravy.

 

Then stir in your crisp-cooked and peppered bacon! Set them aside and heat a griddle pan to fry those half pound burgers next!

*If you make too much for your liking (no such thing, really) and happen have mushrooms leftover, save them for the next morning and make a cheesy fontina omelet and ladle those mushrooms, onions, and bacon over the top! 😉

 

 

Get the pan nice and hot over medium heat to start. Season the tops of the patties and place down onto the hot griddle (seasoned side down). Let it sear for just a minute, then turn the heat down a little so that it can start to cook through. Season the tops, then turn them when bottoms are deeply browned. (I scrape away the gunk and grease so that the next side can also get a nice sear.) Then just cook to the doneness that you prefer.

If you prefer a burger that’s done all the way through, it helps to use a dome lid. That will create a little mini oven and helps to cook your patty all the way through.

If you prefer a little, or a lot of pink, turn your heat up higher to get the outside browned, but leaving the inside pink. Easy peasy.

 

 

 

 

 

Now comes the fun part!! I never spread my bread with butter because I tend to get it everywhere. All over me, the work surface, and it just ends up a silly mess with less on the bread than me and the counter. So I melt the butter right on the pan, and spread it into a pool the shape of the bread.

I build my sandwich on the cutting board with cheese, then spoonfuls of the mushrooms and onions, the the patty, then more mushrooms and onions, more cheese, and the top piece of bread.

 

 

 

 

Pick up your sandwich and place it right onto the melted pool of butter. You’ll want to fry this slowly, over medium-low heat, no higher, so that the cheese on the bottom has a chance to melt by the time the bread is browned and toasted.

 

 

 

 

And this is one of the reasons that make patty melts so special! Just look at that gorgeous color!!!! You can smell that buttery toasted bread just by looking at it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Move your sandwich to the side of the pan, melt more butter, and you’re ready to turn it over.

To flip it isn’t rocket science, but do be careful. I just place one hand on top, slide a spatula underneath, and turn quickly but in a rolling motion, placing it into the new pool of butter. If anything falls out, just tuck it right back in there. No biggie.

 

 

 

 

 

Then remove this baby to a cutting board to rest for just a minute or two. This allows the juices in the burger to settle back down, so that when we cut it, all those yummy juices won’t run out leaving us with a dry burger!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then just slice and serve! Both burgers came out so wonderful, so gorgeous, that there was no “good one” and “ugly one”!

 

 

 

Not only are these a feast for the eyes, but one of the most flavorful patty melts I’ve ever tasted!! The combination of elements came together so beautifully it was truly poetic!

I know you’re going to LOVE these Red Wine Espresso Patty Melt Burgers just as much as we did! And I do hope that you make them soon!! Just remember, these are equivalent to a double cheeseburger, so you might want to invite over a few friends, share them, and make a party of it! Enjoy this year’s #BurgerMonth event, and have a great weekend!

 

Here are this year’s Sponsors that have provided these
Amazing Prizes you can #WIN!!

 

 

All winners will be entered to win a
Weber Spirit II E-310 gas grill!
Grand Prize Grill Winner
will be announced June 4th! 

 

Enter Here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

#BurgerMonth2018 Participants!

  A Day in the Life on the Farm ♦ A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures ♦ A Southern Fairytale ♦ Adventures of Frugal Mom ♦An Affair from the Heart ♦ Bread Booze Bacon ♦ Brocavore ♦ Butcher Betties ♦ Cluttercafe ♦ Comfortably Domestic ♦ Cookie Named Desire ♦ Courtney’s Sweets ♦ Culinary Adventures with Camilla ♦ Eating Richly ♦ Everyday Southwest ♦ Family Around the Table ♦ Family Food on the Table ♦ Fearless Dining ♦ Food Above Gold ♦ Gimme Some Grilling ♦ Girl Abroad  ♦ Grilling Montana ♦ Grumpy’s Honeybunch ♦ Hall Nesting ♦ HORNS BBQ ♦ Jolene’s Recipe Journal ♦ Kecia’s Flavor Breakthrough ♦ Kudos Kitchen by Renee ♦ Life of a Ginger ♦ Love and Confections ♦ Mildly Meandering ♦ Miss in the Kitchen ♦ Moore or Less Cooking ♦ My World Simplified ♦ Palatable Pastime ♦ Pastry Chef Online ♦ Pook’s Pantry ♦ RDelicious Kitchen ♦ Sailrockland ♦ Sarah’s Cucina Bella ♦ Seduction In The Kitchen ♦ Sumptuous Spoonfuls ♦ Sweet ReciPEAs ♦ Tampa Cake Girl ♦ The Beard and The Baker ♦ The Complete Savorist ♦ The Crumby Kitchen ♦ The Farmstand Market ♦ The Redhead Baker ♦ The Schmidty Wife ♦ The Spiffy Cookie ♦ The Suburban Soapbox ♦ Thyme for Cocktails   ♦ Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen ♦ Wok & Skillet ♦ Girl Carnivore ♦ 365 Days of Easy Recipes ♦ Everyday Eileen ♦ For the Love of Food ♦ Dixie Chik Cooks ♦ Beyer Beware ♦ avlfoodie

 

 

A huge thanks to the #BurgerMonth Sponsors, American Lamb Board, Anolon, Cabot Cheese, Melissa’s Produce, Microplane, New York Beef Council, Red Duck, Spiceologist, Veal Made Easy, and Weber Grills!

 

As well as a huge thanks to Kita, of GirlCarnivore,
for putting on this incredible event and putting up with us all!
Here’s to #BurgerMonth2018!

 

 

 

Yield: 2 large patty melts

Red Wine Espresso Patty Melt Burger #BurgerMonth

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Ingredients

• 1 - 1 1/4 lb. ground beef
• 1 brewed and chilled shot espresso
• 1 shot red wine
• season each side well with: salt, coarse ground black pepper, and regular black pepper
• 4 oz. fontina cheese, grated
• 4 slices rye bread
• 4 Tbl. Minerva Dairy Smoked Butter, for frying each sandwich

For Mushrooms & Onions:

• 4 Tbl. Minerva Dairy Maple Wood Smoked Butter
• 2 medium onions, halved and sliced
• 8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms, or as you like
• 2 tsp. light brown sugar
• 1 oz. each: red wine and brewed espresso
• 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
• crisp-cooked and peppered bacon, crumbled
• salt and pepper

Instructions

For Burgers:

Brew one shot of espresso, set in fridge to chill. Once cold, break ground beef up into large bowl. Drizzle with chilled espresso and 1 shot red wine. Gently mix, then divide into half. Form each half into thick, oblong, 7 inch by 5 inch patties. Place onto waxed paper lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill.

For Mushrooms & Onions:

In large frying pan, melt butter over medium low heat, add onions, mushrooms, and light brown sugar. Sauté until onions are soft and golden and mushrooms have browned. Stir in red wine, another shot of hot, brewed espresso, and finely minced garlic. Simmer until thickened into a sauce, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in bacon. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover with lid tilted.

To Cook Burgers:

Heat griddle over medium heat until hot. Season patties on top with lots of salt, regular and coarse black pepper. Don't be shy with any of it, and go especially heavy with the peppers. Place patties seasoned-side down onto hot griddle, reduce heat a little, and fry until browned. About 8 - 10 minutes. Season tops the same way, turn over carefully, and cook side two the same way until done to your liking inside. Remove to a baking sheet, cover, and keep warm.

Assemble and Finish:

On flat griddle heated over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter in separate areas of the pan. Spread out melted butter to size of bread sliced, place a slice of bread on top of each. Top each with lots of cheese, a large spoonful of mushrooms, a burger patty, more mushrooms, more cheese, and top with second slices of bread. Cook until bottoms are deep golden brown and bottom layer of cheese is melting.

Slide patties, one at a time, out of the way to the edge of the pan. Melt another tablespoon of butter onto same place of the griddle where the sandwich was. Place your hand on top of one of the sandwiches, pressing, and slide a spatula underneath. Carefully turn over gently but quickly, holding top, into new pool of melted butter. Tuck in any loose mushrooms or any that may have escaped. Repeat with other sandwich and grill until other sides are done, too.

Remove to a cutting board and let rest 1 - 2 minutes. Slice in half with sharp knife and enjoy!