Saturday, April 23, 2022

An Australian Farm to Table Dinner #WorldWineTravel

Today the World Wine Travel group is tasting red wines from Victoria, Australia, hosted by Jeff of Food Wine Click.  I found a cool bottle of Fowles Wine Farm to Table Cabernet at wine.com.

Wine

You can learn more about the wine regions of Victoria at Jeff's Invitation Post.

Owner, Matt Fowles traded his career as a lawyer to that of winemaker following a family tradition steeped in vignerons, hunters and farmers.  He has been extremely successful, winning many medals and awards.  Matt strives to create wines that pair well with wild produce and farm raised meats.  

I buy my meat from a friend who has a small farm that she cares for humanely and raises hormone free.  I knew that I wanted to pair the Cabernet I ordered with grilled burgers.

Wine with Burger

While researching Australian hamburgers, I came across this fun article from Gourmet Traveler titled Anatomy of a Dish: Aussie Burger.  I learned that David Chang evidently ticked off a lot of folks down under when he wrote an article in his magazine, Lucky Peach, that stated "You know who fuck up burgers more than anyone else in the world? Australians."  

This made me laugh out loud and as I read the article about what makes a burger an Aussie Burger, knew that this was going to be my pairing with the wine I had ordered.

So what does make a burger and Aussie Burger?  Well, according to the above mentioned article there are 5 components necessary to turn an average burger into an Aussie burger.

  1. The Bun-normally white and squishy but brioche buns are allowed.
  2. Meat Patty-minced meat, cooked well done
  3. Cheese-Pre-cut Cheddar slice melted over the patty while still on the grill.
  4. Sauce-Barbecue or Tomato Sauce
  5. Extras-canned sliced beets, fried egg, bacon and sliced pineapple are mandatory. The egg yolk should be runny.  Iceberg lettuce, tomato and onion are acceptable but not mandatory.
burger bun with beets

So I grabbed some brioche buns and opened a can of beets while Frank started the grill.  I took a sip of the wine and noted that it was heavy and rich with a touch of spice.

burger bun with more stuff

I fried up some bacon and grabbed the Sweet Baby Ray's from the fridge and added some more of these required "extras" to the bun.

egg added

Next came the egg that I chose to fry up over easy in the bacon grease. This could have been my sandwich right here!!!

Burger

Then, Frank came inside bearing the burgers with the requisite melted cheddar cheese.  That got put on top of all the other goodies.

Burger with Grilled Pineapple

Here is my only deviation to the required ingredients.  The article said that you needed to use canned pineapple slices.  I didn't have any canned in my cupboard but I did have a fresh pineapple in my refrigerator so I sliced that and had Frank put it on the grill with the burgers.

Aussie Burger with the Lot paired with Wine



And there you have it....an Aussie Burger with the Lot paired with a fruity, bold Cabernet created to pair with beef from Fowles.  It was an awesome pairing and a fun dinner to create.  

I was so pleased with this wine that I bought a bottle of Fowles Chardonnay to share with you next month when I host World Wine Travel and we visit the white wines of Victoria.

Please join us for Twitter Chat today at 11 AM ET as Jeff leads our discussion on the Red Wines of Victoria, Australia.  You will find us by following #WorldWineTravel.  Here are the topics that we'll be sharing.......




Entrees, Hamburgers, Grilling,
Entrees, Beef
Australian
Yield: 2 servings
Author: A Day in the Life on the Farm
Aussie Burger with the Lot

Aussie Burger with the Lot

What makes an Aussie burger different from any other burger you have enjoyed? It's all about the toppings.
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 25 Min

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb farm raised, grass fed ground beef
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 4-6 canned beet slices
  • 2 strips bacon, halved and cooked crisp
  • 2 T. barbecue sauce of choice, more to taste, if desired
  • 2 eggs, fried to desired degree
  • 2 slices cheddar cheese
  • 2 slices pineapple, canned or grilled if using fresh
  • 2 brioche hamburger buns

Instructions

  1. Form the ground beef into two patties, season with salt and pepper, and cook on a medium hot grill to medium well, add the cheese slices and close the grill allowing the cheese to melt on top of the burger.
  2. Place the buns onto plates and add beets to the bottom half of the bun.
  3. Top the beets with the bacon and desired amount of bbq sauce.
  4. Add the fried eggs on top and then place the burgers on top of the eggs.
  5. Finally top the burger with the pineapple slices and the top half of the bun.
  6. Enjoy!!

Nutrition Facts

Calories

977.5

Fat (grams)

37.75

Sat. Fat (grams)

14.76

Carbs (grams)

121.86

Fiber (grams)

5.48

Net carbs

116.39

Sugar (grams)

71.42

Protein (grams)

40.82

Sodium (milligrams)

1714.78

Cholesterol (grams)

269.87

11 comments:

  1. I did Aussie Burgers with the Lot when the group kicked off Australian wines. I didn't read David Chang's quotation though. Hilarious! Yours looks tasty.

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    Replies
    1. I know that was what inspired my choice. Yours looked so good.

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  2. I believe in burgers however you like them, although I do take exception to "well done"! LOL! This sounds like a beautiful pairing.

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    Replies
    1. I agree...we did adapt and make ours med well which is more well done than we prefer.

      Delete
  3. Definitely feel the fun you had creating these burgers and pairing them with the Fowles Cab. Very Wendy, through and through. Love it!

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  4. Wow ! Gorgeous ! I never thought of beets on burgers, both Ron and I love beets, will try this for sure.

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    Replies
    1. We were pleasantly surprised with these burgers Cathy. Let me know what you and Ron think.

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  5. I'm not usually attracted to burgers with a whole stack of toppings, but yours look so interesting. Beets? Who knew?

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  6. Farm to table always catches my eye... might see if I can order their Chard for next month. The Aussie burger extras are curious, especially the beets. As Jeff said, who knew?!?

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy getting comments and feedback from my audience. Please let me know what you think, keeping in mind that we are all entitled to our own beliefs and opinions. I am happy to hear yours as long as they are stated nicely.