Summer, winter, spring or fall . . . no matter the season each week I create a recipe to pair with a bottle of wine.   In some instances, it is the recipe that dominates and other times it is a particular bottle of wine that I wish to feature which controls the pairing.   Yet after two years and two months of religiously posted weekly articles, I have longed for new feedback (if not outright participation), from my reading audience.   So lately, I post requests from time to time on Facebook for friends or fans to suggest an ingredient or a dish to inspire a weekly article.   Ideas have been thrown about and some have emerged in weekly articles as they inspire different recipes.   But one individual, one fan, one friend decided to go the extra mile.   Actually, Greg decided to go the extra thousands of miles as while on assignment in the Middle East, he sent me a small package and within that little box on my front porch sat a container of . . .  Afghan Saffron.

Seeing that container yielding all of those many, many, many tiny red threads of saffron made this little chef jump for joy.   Greg, a like-minded chef, knows the value and importance of good saffron.   With some of the best saffron coming from the Middle East, a container like I received might as well as have been filled with culinary gold and by all means aptly earned Greg new status as a revered anointed  “Saffron King” in our circle.

On the kitchen countertop the saffron sat, almost staring at me and daring me to use it daily.   It waited patiently last weekend as avocado was wrapped in phyllo, seared and dressed with a spiced raspberry-basil sauce.   Like a cool cat, that saffron knew that its day was going to arrive with a thoughtful recipe.   Certainly, the traditional recipes floated to mind.   Largely Spanish cuisine dominated my brain and while saffron mussels or paella were options, my creativity yawned and clicked “next…”   With seasonal sweet red bell peppers and giant vidalia onions in the refrigerator and some green Spanish olives staring down at me from a shelf above, something Spanish-influenced was guaranteed.   Reflecting again to comments from my reading audience, a request from my brother re-emerged, “Could you do something creative and reoccurring with burgers this summer?”  

Burgers, this American staple is a summertime favorite and a California standby for easy, casual red wine pairing.  While I have been known for a decade or longer for pairing a good basic cheeseburger with a quality Cabernet Sauvignon, that pairing just simply is not interesting enough to write about or photograph.   However, the brilliant aspect of burgers is that if you are creative, some over-the-top creations can come to life on your charcoal backyard grill.   With this in mind, the recipe outline for a Spanish Burger quickly came together and was slated to grace this kicked back casual connoisseur’s patio.

Knowing that I have a love for a good Cabernet Sauvignon with a burger, what red wine is going to pair with a Spanish Burger?   Rioja students who are reading this will eagerly shout, “Tempranillo!”  Show-offs . . .  but loveable show-offs, you are.   Nevertheless, let’s take a step back.   Burgers are notorious for a fat content.   Whether that fat content comes from the quality of meat being used or the cheese placed on top, if the fat content is high tannins best cleanly slice through the fat and simultaneously allow the natural fruit flavors of the wine to race forward.   This is why typically a big bold tannic Cabernet Sauvignon will pair with the all-American classic cheeseburger.   Tempranillo, the infamous grape grown most successfully throughout Spain, offers a different flavor profile, less tannins and often dances best with the spices found in traditional Spanish cuisine.   But what if we found a blend of both worlds?   What if we found a wine in which Cabernet Sauvignon was combined with Tempranillo?   This would be a bottling that would potentially thumb its nose at traditional Napa Valley Bordeaux blends.   Is it a pipe dream?  Is it an urban legend in Napa Valley?  Or did it perhaps emerge in a 2008 vintage?   If you have had the good fortune to drop in on the hospitality staff at Sequoia Grove in Napa Valley, you will have found this wine in the winery’s 2008 vintage of its proprietary Rebellious Red.

It is guaranteed that you will not ever under appreciate a Sequoia Grove red wine, particularly when Cabernet Sauvignon is involved.  Mike Trujillo, the head wine maker at the winery, is simply gifted when it comes to all things Cabernet Sauvignon.   Each year the winery releases a red blend wine called “Rebellious Red”.   As the name aptly implies, a daring combination of red varietals are combined into this easy drinking red wine.   Cabernet Sauvignon, being a winery house favorite, is always included, but in 2008, the winemaking staff decided to spice matters up a bit and introduce that famed grape of the Rioja, Tempranillo.   Tempranillo is difficult to find in Napa Valley (particularly grown and made well).   When it is introduced to one of Mike Trujillo’s famed Cabernet Sauvingon varietals, however, this is a red wine that is going to flow easily into your glass and the glasses of your dining companions.  Delicious sour red cherry with soft anise notes greet the front of the palate and chew their way across.   This wine is a smooth aloof character that grabs your sensory attention and then coasts across the palate.   Yet before leaving, the 2008 Rebellious Red presents a breathtaking finish of polished fruit and spice.

With these elements present in the wine, it is easily foreseeable that this week menu holds:

• Spanish Burger With Saffron Mayonaisse And Caramelized Vidalia Onions and Sweet Red Bell Peppers

When one decides to “improve” the traditional American cheeseburger, the burger recipe becomes highly personalized, if not tricked out.   Anything within reason can be added and the creative combinations are unlimited.   To create a Spanish Burger, however, I decided that the meat mixture should be a 50/50 combination of ground pork and 96% lean ground beef.   While the burger is lean at the base, chopped marinated green olives are added along with chopped plumped golden raisins.  Typical to Spanish cuisine a combination of seasonings are added to the mixture:  pureed roasted garlic, lemon thyme, cumin, ginger, ground mustard, smoked Spanish paprika, fresh ground black pepper and Worcestershire sauce.    The burger is placed atop a charcoal grill and dressed with grated manchego cheese.   The aromas from the grill are tantalizing, but when the burger is placed on a heated whole wheat English muffin, with Saffron mayonnaise (which includes meyer lemon, saffron, lemon thyme and chopped caramelized sweet red bell peppers), caramelized Vidalia onions and caramelized sweet red bell peppers, the flavors are extraordinary and you will be thankful that you decided to “pimp your burger”.

Greg’s saffron is used sparingly in both the burger and the mayonnaise.   Saffron has been noted for its anti-depressant qualities, but if not used carefully it can quickly render itself as the “giggle spice” delivering feelings of euphoria (particularly when in a dish paired with wine).  

When this over-the-top Spanish Burger is paired with Sequoia Grove’s Rebellious Red, it is a kismet match of food, spice and wine.   While this recipe is definitely a creative and unique recipe, it finds its destined cultural home when paired with a Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon blend.   There is a certain rush that comes from pairing with a wine with a recipe that is so closely culturally attuned to a varietal’s natural, native attributes.  Saffron pairs beautifully with Sequoia Grove’s Rebellious Red along with other Spanish spices and demonstrates how vivacious and rich this red blend wine can be.

The next time burgers are slated to be on your barbeque menu, live a little and throw caution to the wind and create your own tricked out burger.   Sprinkle a little saffron in your recipe to unlock a little adventure and some guaranteed giggles among your guests.