What do you when your spouse walks into the kitchen only to find you hoisting a bottle of Grey’s Peak vodka (even better neat than Grey Goose) from the freezer? Easy! Just tell her it’s for making dinner. I used grass-fed beef from Interlake Meadows Farm and to complete the Bloody Mary theme, horseradish cheddar from Bothwell Cheese. As for the hot sauce, a Louisiana-style sauce such as Crystal provides an excellent balance of heat and flavour. I don’t always drink vodka when I’m cooking, but when I do…
Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
2 Roma tomatoes – seeded and diced to ¼” 1 stalk celery – diced to ¼” 2 tablespoons vodka 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce ½ teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1 pound lean ground beef 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce 1 clove garlic – very finely chopped or crushed 4 tablespoons cheddar cheese – grated 4 small lime wedgesPreparation:
In a suitable bowl, mix the tomatoes, celery, vodka, Worcestershire sauce, ¼ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper.
Preheat a heavy cast pan on medium.
In another bowl, knead together the beef, remaining ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, hot sauce and garlic, being careful not to over-mix. Form the mixture into eight equal patties. Place a tablespoon of cheese onto the centres of four patties. Top these with the remaining patties and pinch the edges together, resulting in four stuffed burgers.
Place the burgers in the pan and cook for four minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 160F.
Plate the burgers topped with the tomato mixture and a lime wedge, serving immediately.