Ingredients:
1½ pound ground chuck
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 ounces gorgonzola or other blue cheese — crumbled
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
3 tablespoons *Dijonnaise dressing
1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
4 toasted buns
Preparation:
Make Dijonnaise dressing (see recipe below).*
Preheat a grill.
Buy the right meat. For juicy burgers, get ground chuck with a fat content of at least 18%. Lean and extra-lean meat make tough, dry burgers. Also, the more freshly ground the meat is, the more tender and flavorful the burger:
The more you handle the meat, the tougher your burger will be. Use wet hands to form patties. This keeps your hands from getting sticky. It also allows the meat to come together faster and prevents over-handling.
Combine the ground beef, onion salt and pepper. Mix in the crumbled gorgonzola and distribute evenly through the meat. Form into four burgers. Refrigerate until ready to grill.
Combine the mustard, Dijonnaise dressing and tarragon. Set aside.
Coat the rack of the grill with oil spray and grill the burgers over a hot fire to the desired doneness. Use a clean, well-oiled, preheated grill. Bits of debris encourage sticking, as does an un-oiled surface and too low a temperature; you want your burgers to quickly sizzle, firm up, and release from the grill.
Don’t press on the burgers while they’re cooking. The juice that seeps out holds most of the flavor and moisture.
When the burgers are done, let them rest a few minutes before eating. This allows them to finish cooking and allows their juices, which have collected on the surface during grilling, to redistribute throughout patty. Top each one with 1 tablespoon of the sauce. Serve on toasted buns.
This recipe serves/makes 4
*Dijonnaise dressing
Ingredients
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. cider or white wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil*
1 pinch dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation:
In a glass bowl, blend mustard and vinegar, then add oil and seasonings. Mix well.
Suggestion:
This dressing will keep sealed 15 days in the refrigerator. Shake well before using.
