Bison Burger with Goat Cheese and Pinot Noir Carmelized Onions

As you'll recall, two weeks ago I regaled you all with the saga of my busted refrigerator and the desire to work through the meat in my freezer. I put it out to a vote, and the winning meat was the bison burger. I'm also happy to report that my new refrigerator will be arriving tomorrow, so it's fitting that I should post this today.

The bison meat that I had was in pre-made patties, so it limited my creativity a bit in what to make. Let's be honest. After a long work day, sometimes I just don't want to have to think or make the tough decisions. Like what type of cheese to put on a bison burger. So I kept this simply...delicious.

Bison Burger with Goat Cheese and Pinot Noir Carmelized Onions (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1 small vidalia onion, sliced
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1/2 TB. olive oil, plus additional for cooking burgers
• 1/2 cup pinot noir
• 1/2 lb. ground bison
• 1 TB chopped parsley1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
• salt and pepper
• 2 oz goat cheese
• 2 split hamburger buns

Directions:

In a  skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and the thyme. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook with a pinch of salt until the onions are soft golden brown, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pluck out the thyme sprig  and then increase the heat to medium-high. Add the wine and cook until it’s almost completely absorbed, about 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, press the parsley, garlic, salt and pepper into the patties. Cook them however you like–grill, broil, pan fry, about 2 1/2 minutes per side for medium.

Broil or toast the buns with the goat cheese on them. Serve the burgers on the toasted buns with the onions.

Bison Burgers with Gruyere Cheese and Caramelized Onions

As I've written in this blog before, I'm very fortunate to live within walking distance to several farmers' markets. The best of these markets is a bit of a hike from where I live, but when you're on a mission for meat, it's the place to go. The target meat for that trip? Buffalo.

I think I first had buffalo meat when I traveled to Montana for a friend's weekend shortly after graduating from college. But the experience stuck with me and when I've found a crafty bison burger on a menu in DC, I've opted to give it a try. One of my favorite burgers at one of the local restaurants here in DC offers a bison burger with goat cheese and carmelized onions.

I decided to try something similar with two of the bison patties I picked up at the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market. Except I used some leftover gruyere cheese that I had handy. I'd put the recipe down here, but it was truly as simple as carmelizing some onions, and melting some gruyere cheese on these burgers, which I cooked in a skillet. One thing to note about bison meat is that it is extremely lean, and can get overcooked very easily. I cooked it about 3 minutes a side. Served with a side of sweet potato fries.