Trattoria Burger

This is the Trattoria Burger from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes (page 65). Sometimes when we eat at an Italian Restaurant we will order a Caprese Salad and split it for an appetizer and since its so easy to fix we have it at home too. Buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and fresh basil is all it takes (add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar). When I saw that Bobby Flay had a hamburger recipe that incorporated the Caprese ingredients we had to try it. Besides grilling the burger to perfection the key here is melting the mozzarella all the way through - no partially melted cheese should ever be left on a burger. Those grilled steak fry wedges are also a Bobby recipe - page 91 of Burgers, Fries & Shakes. 


Wisdom of the Grill. Another grilling tip from Bobby made this burger perfect. As I said the cheese should be melted through - especially a soft cheese like mozzarella. I used to just place the cheese over a done burger and hope for the best. Sometimes the cheese would not melt very fast and the burger would get over done, it was a mess - then I read about the Basting Cover technique. When the burger is almost done you place the cheese on the burger and then place a cover over the entire burger while still on the grill. The cover could be a lid or a pan, but it has to be tall enough so that the cover never touches the burger and cheese. I have a gallon size pot that I have used on the grill for sauces - it probably was too tall, but it worked out. With the burger covered on the grill, the heat comes up through the grates but gets trapped around the burger by the cover. This melted the cheese quickly and evenly - and with perfect timing for the burger to be done. This simple trick turns backyard burned burgers into a meal worthy of the grill. 


What to drink? I went to Tim's Premium Wines store (see previous blog about Tim and his store). I told him I was grilling burgers. He said I have the perfect wine. He pulled out the Sacred Stone from the Pietra Santa Winery in Hollister, California. Tim was right again - red wine blends do go great with grilled beef and especially burgers. This one, (Sacred Stone Master's blend cask #05 to be exact) had big flavor - not thin, and was terrific with the caprese burger blend of spices. Learn more about the Sacred Stone at www.pietrasantawinery.com


What was on? Tapestry. The original version of Carole King's Tapestry pre-dates downloads, it pre-dates CDs, it even pre-dates cassettes and 8-track. When it first came out, I didn't have it. It seemed only the cool kids back then had albums - I had 45s. So it was later in life when I reached back for Tapestry. Every song is a classic and the message, pace, and strength of each song ebbs and flows like a well told story. The order in which songs follow on an album used to mean something. If you listened to the tracks out of order you miss the story. Now days we dissect an album, purchasing just the songs we want from the computer and then we can put them in any order we want. The record companies know that we are smorgasborging, so the order that the songs are listed no longer have any meaning. No full story is ever told. If you make a list of the ten most influential albums, Tapestry must be on that list. We were actually listening to Carole King because we successfully got pre-sale tickets to the James Taylor and Carole King reunion concert coming to Nashville in May. That should be quite a show and probably will be attended by folks who are mostly in my age group. The only reunion concert that would be better than this one would be James Taylor and Carly Simon - I would pay good money to hear Carly Simon. 


Weather Report. The rain continues to fall, but as long as Tim's wine store is open and the grill stays lit, we will keep going - there are plenty more Bobby Flay ideas.


Paul