Eating Sriracha Burgers In The Mountains

Kevin and I traveled to Brevard, North Carolina (near-ish Asheville), to spend this past weekend at our friend Mary’s dad’s gorgeous mountain house. Mary and Allen have been so generous with this place, and this is the third trip we’ve taken there. This time, we were joined by another couple, Knox and Kathleen (who drove up from Atlanta), which made things even more fun.

We lucked out with amazingly perfect weather this weekend, too, which was awesome. We spent some of Saturday morning in adorable downtown Brevard, then took Fulton and Roark for a swim. (Actually, Roark went swimming and our rather water-shy Fulton opted to hop around in the shallow water until Roark came to shore and then pounce on him. It was pretty entertaining to watch.) Then Mary and I took Fulton and Roark on a walk through the neighborhood (TONS of hills!) while Knox, Kevin, and Allen golfed.

We decided Saturday should end with some grilled deliciousness, so we went with a slightly modified version of this easy-but-delectable recipe from Serious Eats: Sriracha burgers with blue cheese sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 10 Tablespoons Sriracha
• 4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large sweet onions
• 2/3 cup blue cheese dressing (I recommend the Naturally Fresh brand, in the refrigerated section)
• 8 sesame seed buns
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• Arugula or romaine lettuce
• Olive oil (for sauteing onions)

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, soy sauce, 5 Tablespoons Sriracha, and pepper. Form the mixture into eight patties and set aside in the refrigerator.
• Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
• In a skillet, slice onions and saute in olive oil over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes (until they begin to caramelize).
• Grill the burgers, turning once, for 4-4 1/2 minutes on each side.
• While the burgers are cooking, combine the blue cheese dressing and remaining 5 Tablespoons Sriracha in a small bowl.
• Time to assemble! Spread blue cheese sauce on buns, add the burger, then garnish with tomato and arugula or romaine.

Alas, I didn’t take a photo of the burgers, but here was our view while we enjoyed dinner. (Not too shabby, huh?)

Thanks again for a wonderful weekend in the moutains, Mary and Allen!