Azorean Burgers

My inspiration comes from my wife’s Portuguese heritage, with her family coming to the States from the Azore Islands (Pico Island). I researched ingredients that are used in foods from the Azores to come up with the recipe that I am submitting.

Ingredients:

Mint Mayonnaise

1/2 cup fresh mint (chopped and loosely packed)

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise

Fig, Pineapple & Onion Chutney

1 1/2 cups Sutter Home Pinot Grigio wine (room temperature)

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate (unfrozen)

20 dried Adriatic figs (stemmed and cut into quarters)

6 sliced pineapple rings (cut into quartered pieces)

1/2 medium sized onion, sliced thin

Meat Patties

1/3 cup Sutter Home Pinot Grigio wine (room temperature)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cloves of garlic chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin (90% lean)

1/3 pound Portuguese linguica (remove casing & grind in a food processor)

Vegetable oil for brushing on the grill

6 Hawaiian sweet buns – split

Instructions:

To make the mint mayonnaise, combine the mint and vinegar in a small bowl and stir together. Fold in the mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pre-heat a gas grill to medium heat.

To make the chutney, combine the wine, honey, and concentrated orange juice in a medium fireproof non-resistant sauce pan and whisk together. Add the figs, pineapple, and onions to the liquid, and stir to coat. Place the saucepan on the grill, and stir frequently until the liquid has nearly cooked away, approximately 30 minutes. Place the cooked chutney in a small bowl, cover until ready to serve.

To make the patties, combine the wine, tomato paste, garlic, ground cloves, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk together. In a large bowl combine the ground sirloin and ground linguica. Add the liquid mixture to the meat mixture and handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it, mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and form the portions into patties to fit the buns.

When the grill is ready, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the patties on the rack, cover and cook for 4 minutes. Turning just once, cook for an additional 3 minutes for a medium cooked burger. During the last minute of cooking, place the buns, cut side down on the outer edges of the rack to toast lightly.

To assemble the burgers, spread the mint mayonnaise over the cut sides of the buns. On each bun bottom place the patty, and spoon the chutney over the patties, dividing equally. Add the bun tops and serve.