Burgers: a la Greque

It's Greek to Me



A few summers back I was playing with burger ideas and thought a marinated burger sounded like a good idea. So I bought a small chuck roast, mixed up a marinade, and marinated the roast over night. The next day I dried the roast off with a towel, cubed it, and made ground beef. It was a mixed success. The flavor was pretty much what I hoped, but the meat had absorbed too much marinade and wouldn't hold together on the grill. I put the idea aside until this past summer when I decided to try again.

This time I decided that instead of actually marinating the meat, I'd simply add a bit of the marinade ingredients to the ground beef. My thinking was this approach would give me more control over the amount of liquid. With some tweaking I got the burger I'd hoped for.

Juniper Berries are the berries from a relative of the juniper shrubs used in landscaping.

Make these up a few hours in advance to give the flavors time to meld before grilling. And I like serving them on these Black Pepper/Garlic Buns with a slice of red onion, some sliced cucumbers, and tzatziki sauce.

Marinated Greek Burgers
Makes 4 servings

Burger:
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
12 juniper berries, crushed then finely chopped*
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh oregano
1 large clove garlic, crushed
Tzatziki Sauce:
1 cup Greek-style yogurt**
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Thoroughly mix together all the burger ingredients, form into patties, wrap separately in plastic, and refrigerate for at least four hours and as long as 24 hours to allow flavors to meld.

Mix all tzatziki ingredients together and chill.

Put burgers on grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side. Serve on a bun with tzatziki sauce, thinly sliced cucumbers, and red onion.

*Juniper Berries are the berries from a relative of the juniper shrubs used in landscaping. They have a delicious resinous flavor and can be found at upscale markets. If you can't find them, increase the minced rosemary by 50 percent.

**Greek yogurt is thicker than most commercial yogurt. If you can’t find it, drain regular plain yogurt in a couple of folds of cheesecloth in a sieve over a bowl for 6 hours.

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