Red Wine and Blue Burgers {50 Women In Food: #13 Rachael Ray}
Mary of One Perfect Bite and some other women food bloggers (including myself) are blogging our way through the 50 Women Game Changers In Food published by Gourmet in May ’11. Some of the women on the list you will know, others you may not, but either way, this will be a great 50 week journey to learn more about these women that inspire the way we think about food today.
Please visit Mary at One Perfect Bite, Val at More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne at Eats Well With Others, Taryn at Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan at The Spice Garden, Claudia at A Seasonal Cook In Turkey, Heather at Girlichef, Jeanette at Jeanette’s Healthy Living, Katie at Making Michael Poland Proud, Kathleen at Bake Away With Me, Sue at The View From Great Island, Barbara at Moveable Feasts, and Amy at Beloved Green for their tributes to these 50 women.
“The first rule is to be myself.” - Rachael Ray
Her 30-minute meals made her famous, but her sparkling personality kept her shining. There is definitely not a shortage of recipes from Rachael Ray. You can find a myriad of them on the internet and in her vast collection of cookbooks. At my last check at the Rachael Ray Store, there were 23 of them! This is one of the reasons she lands at the # 13 spot on the Gourmet Live list. Many people love her, some people hate her (maybe she’s too happy for them?), but she has made quite the name for herself.
The cookbook author, magazine editor and popular tv host has recently landed the People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Chef, and I don’t think she is stopping anytime soon. She’s got a line of cookware and bakeware and even a line of dog food and treats, no wonder her face is everywhere! Famous for her self-made words like EVOO, Yum-o and Delish, she also teaches us to not take savory cooking so seriously. Self-admittedly, she does not bake but in her savory cooking, she “eyeballs” ingredients and uses “palmfuls” of spices – reminding us that we can do the same and the dish will still be OK.
For my spotlight meal, I decided to go with her Red Wine and Blue Burgers from her cookbook, Just In Time. Although not my favorite burger of Rachael’s that I have made, it was still tasty. The strong flavor of the wine and the distinct flavor of the blue cheese seemed like they were more in competition with each other than complimenting each other. I can also chock this up to the ingredients used. If I used different brands of wine and blue cheese, they may work better with each other. Overall, a good dish but not great.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground sirloin
- 3 scallions, white and green parts chopped
- 2 teaspoons (about a half palmful) grill seasoning
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- Salt
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 4 Kaiser rolls, split and lightly toasted
- 2 bunches of watercress, trimmed of any thick stems
- 6 ribs celery, cut into three-inch sticks
- Fancy potato chips, such as rosemary chips
Directions
- In a bowl, combine the ground sirloin, scallions, grill seasoning, Worcestershire, black pepper, a little salt and the red wine, and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Using the back of your hand, score the meat into 4 equal portions then make each portion into patties about an inch thick. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Once it starts to ripple, add the patties and cook for 6-7 minutes on each side, until they reach desired doneness.
- While the burgers are cooking, put together the blue part of the meal: In a mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, blue cheese, hot sauce and a little salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Place a burger on top of each toasted bun bottom, top that with some of the watercress and a couple of dollops of the blue sauce. Serve with some fancy chips and celery sticks alongside.
Recipe linked to: Saturdays With Rachael Ray
In The Spotlight: Rachael Ray
(From Wikipedia) Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American television personality, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels and$40 a Day. Ray wrote cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray’s television shows have won two Daytime Emmy Awards.
It definitely looks and sounds good, but I know what you mean. Blue cheese definitely has a strong flavour as well as red wine. I own two of her cookbooks and just love them. She used to really annoy me until I started making her recipes, then she got my respect.
That seems to be the trend Brenda. She really does make some great family friendly & easy meals. I think she’s a sweetheart, so I don’t think I could hate her at this point. She does *seem* genuine.
Rachel is admired for many qualities. I am not a huge fan of her shows but I do love her cookbooks. Food doesn’t need to be al about gourmet.
I think that is why so many people like her, she does everyday food (no pun intended on the magazine!).
Her burger recipes are usually my favorite. I don’t cook with wine very often, so I probably wouldn’t have tried this, but it’s good to know that the flavors competed against each other. But it sure sounds good! I’d love for you to come link up to my Saturdays with Rachael Ray!!
I linked up Deborah, thanks for the invite!
I have been wanting to try this one. Sorry it wasn’t great…but I think I’d give it a go anyway
Yes, I would still recommend trying it. It was still a good burger, although not my husband’s favorite.
I’ve never heard of wine mixed in with burgers before. Rachael is definitely creative!
She does get creative, and I like that!
I enjoyed going through the Rachel cookbook catalog. No matter what folks say about her, she has created a persona and a food philosophy folks can relate too, and marketed it amazingly well. Kudos to her.
I completely agree.