He Said (3) - Burgers with Mushroom-Vermouth Topper

If you recall my husband and I are having a bit of a contest with each of us using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book to create a meal. In total there will be 12 recipes, 6 of his choosing and 6 of mine. The contest ends August 31 so the first week of September I will post a poll where you can vote for the meal you liked best. The rules are all the ingredients must be used but the amounts can be altered.

Great Ingredients

My husband loves burgers! He makes one of the best homemade burgers you will ever taste so it was not a surprise when he chose a burger recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book as one of his contest recipes. Good food always starts with fresh, quality ingredients! My husband stopped at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario store) to pick up dry Vermouth. Vermouth is a fortified wine flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices. He bought Martini Dry-Sec a, 18% alc/vol vermouth product of Italy. He also stopped at the grocery store for fresh mushrooms and Vidallia onions. While there he spotted mozzarella cheese so picked up 5 packages. This mozzarella cheese has a nicer flavour and texture than the store or name brand (eg. Kraft®) cheese. It actually is less expensive per gram than the store or name brand mozzarella. We have found this to be true for most cheeses. I made a small platter for the salad toppings as a side for the burgers.

The Burger

Pictured is one of the burgers with mushroom-vermouth topper. The burger itself was not highly seasoned so there was a lovely, full bodied beef flavour that really offset the mushroom-vermouth sauce. Unlike other burgers that you would add toppings like tomatoes, pickles and onions the only topping on this burger was the mushroom-vermouth topping. The sauce was rich and creamy. This resulted in a unique and very tasty burger! The burgers were served with a simple side salad topped with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

My husband added a couple of pieces of the mozzarella cheese on his second burger. He declared it even better than the first burger! So the next time we make these burgers and we will definitely be making them again we'll add mozzarella on top of the burger before adding the mushroom-vermouth topper. Kudos to my husband for trying this keeper recipe!

Burgers with Mushroom-Vermouth Topper
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 148

½ c finely chopped sweet onion
¼ c fine dry bread crumbs
1 beaten egg
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 lb lean ground beef
6 hamburger buns, splite and toasted
1 recipe Mushroom-Vermouth Topper

Combine onion, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add ground beef and mix well. Shape into six ¾-inch thick patties. Grill on medium until centre reaches 160ºF. Remove from grill and place on toasted buns. Top with Mushroom-Vermouth Topper.
Yield: 6 burgers

Mushroom-Vermouth Topper
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 148

¼ c melted butter
3 c quartered small mushrooms
½ c thinly sliced shallots
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
⅔ c dry vermouth

Combine butter, mushrooms, shallots, salt and pepper in skillet. Cook over medium heat until cooked. Stir in flour. Cook and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat and carefull add the vermouth. Return to heat. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Serve immediately.