Food blogger and Wine Guide Melissa Summar is back with a burger that’s fit to bring to the brunch table this summer, paired with our favorite summer red wine, 2016 Sky Blossom Red Wine, Lake County California.
Barbecuing is just what you do in the summer. A few weeks back our Chief Grape Stomper Rick Libby and Director of Wine Guide Success and Happiness Kate Franklin had a “burger-off” on our company’s Facebook page and I was inspired to make a super delicious burger myself. Enter the Ultimate Brunch Burger. As a kid, I didn’t always get excited about breakfast for supper because I wasn’t a big egg fan, but now I love them— and they play a big role in my Ultimate Brunch Burger, which checks all the boxes as the perfect meal to whip up for a Sunday Funday brunch.
Growing up in North Dakota, I was exposed to a lot of the German heritage, including German cooking techniques. One common German cooking technique is mixing half ground pork and half ground beef in many dishes. For my Ultimate Brunch Burger, I mixed half breakfast sausage and half ground beef and then made my patties. These burgers grilled up perfectly. With the fat from the breakfast sausage, it made the grill flame up a bit which helped put the perfect char on the burgers. I then topped the burger with some thick-cut local bacon, a fried egg, lettuce, and some mayonnaise. I used a toasted brioche bun in keeping with all things brunch.
I also made some simple sides to go with this delicious burger. For my first side, I picked up some fresh sweet corn from the local farmer’s market and made an ultra-simple corn and feta salad with a recipe I love from skinnytaste.com. I used basil and a little mint as my fresh herbs. My second side featured farmer’s market tomatoes, sliced and sprinkled salt and pepper to taste. It was perfect.
Here’s how it all came together!
Ultimate Brunch Burger
Makes 4 to 5 burgers
- 1.5 pounds fresh ground breakfast pork sausage
- 1 pound 93% ground beef
- 4-5 eggs
- Butter, for frying eggs and toasting your buns
- Lettuce
- Thick cut bacon- cooked to your liking
- Mayonnaise (garlic aioli would be a great way to take this burger to the next level)
- 4-5 brioche buns
- Salt and pepper
Mix your ground pork and ground beef until just combined. You do not want to over mix your meat. It will result in a dry burger. Form your patties: Divide your meat before you start forming your patties so all of your burgers are the same size so they all cook evenly. Depending on how thick you want your burger you will get four to five burgers. Season each side with salt and pepper. Grill your burgers on the grill. Once cooked, let rest for about five minutes. While your burgers are resting, toast the buns and fry up your eggs. Then, assemble your burger with the remaining fixings including crisp bacon. A slice of classic American cheese would go great on this burger as well (I personally don’t like cheese on my burgers. I know crazy, right?).
My top tip? Bake your bacon in the oven on a sheet pan and wire rack. It lets all the grease drip off and you can bake all the pieces at the same time to achieve the perfect doneness.
Melissa Summar, Wine Guide and Traveling Vineyard Food Blogger
Pair your brunch burger with red wine
I paired my burger with our new red blend from California, Sky Blossom. California red blends are one of my favorites when it comes to red wine. I love drinking a red blend because you can really taste the layers from the different varietals. You get the pepper notes, the fruitiness, the smokiness—it’s all there in every sip. Sky Blossom paired perfectly with my Ultimate Brunch Burger. The sage in the breakfast sausage really made this a match. And, the smokiness of the grill combined with the slight smokiness of the wine created fireworks on the palate. Even better? 2016 Sky Blossom Red Wine is one of Traveling Vineyard’s charity wines. When you purchase a bottle of Sky Blossom, Traveling Vineyard gives one dollar to the National Military Family Association, helping military families and spouses achieve their goals. We’ve already donated $14,000 to support a military spouse and her dream to earn her graduate degree.
Got a favorite summertime burger? We’d love to know your recipe and wine pairing! Send us a message on Facebook. Cheers to grilling and chilling.