BLT Burger Ridiculousness
Yes, it’s a bacon cheeseburger. And yes, it’s basted with butter on the grill. I think I’m going to need to submit this to This is Why You’re Fat. Thanks, Food and Wine. The recipe is Cheddar BLT Burgers with Tarragon Russian Dressing from Chef Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Burger in Las Vegas.
The other interesting thing the recipe has you do besides brushing the burgers with butter is soaking them in ice water for 30 seconds immediately before they go on the grill. The burgers did turn out super-juicy, but they were a little crumbly on the grill and I had to make an effort to keep them from coming apart.
The Russian dressing called for fresh tarragon. I didn’t have any, so I substituted a little bit of fresh basil and also used fresh parsley from my mini herb garden out on the patio. I loved the basil flavor in the dressing — it added a nice freshness worked fine in harmony with the rest of the ingredients.
The Food and Wine article pairs these hefty burgers with a hefty Cabernet, recommending a couple of options from Washington State that will hold up to the cheddar, bacon and burger. The Cab I had on hand was this Estancia Paso Robles from Keyes Cabin Ranches, a little more mellow choice. This was fine — I actually used colby jack cheese, which is a little more mellow, too, so it worked together fine. I could also see a Zinfandel or a Syrah standing up nicely to these burgers.
I served the burgers with a simple romaine salad with lime vinaigrette — a nice light, fresh side since the burgers were heavy duty. And here’s one last shot of the BLT Burger ridiculousness for the road…
Tagged with bacon, basil, BLT, blt burger las vegas, burgers, cabernet, cheddar, colby jack, Estancia vineyards, food and wine, herb garden, laurent tourondel, lime vinaigrette, parsley, romaine, Russian dressing, syrah, tarragon, zinfandel
