We decided to keep it pretty simple this week with lamb burgers and a super fresh tomato, cucumber, and avocado salad. The lamb burgers were elevated by a creamy aioli, red onions, and fresh arugula. I always prefer arugula on my burgers because of the peppery taste and crunch. We decided to do lamb instead of a typical ground beef to go better with the full body of the Merlot. The Merlot begged for a more gamey meat and we were happy to oblige. Merlot is definitely not my first choice of red wine, or even my second, but we made it work!

Lamb Burgers

• 1 lb ground lamb
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• buns

These are done the same way as any burger. Mix the salt, pepper, cumin (just a little!) into the lamb meat and then divide evenly. We used our handy burger press to get 3 even burgers. Grill or cook on the stove top until done! I like to put aioli on the bottom of the burger so that it’s not dripping all over the place!

Aioli

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 small garlic clove, grated
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• cayenne pepper (as much or little as you want)
• Fresh lemon juice
• Fresh black pepper

Whisk (or use your fancy immersion blender like I did!) egg yolk, garlic, salt, and 2 tsp of water to combine. Keep mixing and slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil until the sauce has thickened and combined. Keep mixing and add the olive oil in, still slowly. You can stir or mix in the lemon juice, pepper, cayenne, and more salt if needed. This was a pretty runny aioli, and if you don’t want to get crazy and make it from scratch you can always mix mayonnaise, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, cayenne into a bowl and use it. You do you.

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Tomato, Cucumber, Avocado Salad

• 1/2 english cucumber, diced (I used the rest to eat with hummus and it was amazing)
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 ripe avocado, diced (do this in the skin!)
• 1/2 red onion, diced (I think I used less)
• 1 large garlic clove, grated
• 1/4 c fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Toss the cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, onion, garlic, and cilantro in a large bowl with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Serve immediately or keep it in the fridge while you cook the burgers. The avocado’s won’t keep!

Merlot

I feel like it is well known that red wine is not my thing. Even my husband doesn’t usually like Merlot. This particular Merlot was smooth, with just a touch of acidity on the back end. It cut through the gamey lamb easily, and stood well with the strong lamb taste. It smelled like black cherries and a touch of tobacco, which is one of my favorite smells. It had a little bit of spice on it, which also complimented the lamb.

Because red wines give me a headache, I used this as an opportunity to re-try my fancy tannin/sulfate filter and aerator to see if that would help curb the headache. I found that when filtered and aerated that you could really taste the flavors in the wine better, the cherry stood out more and you didn’t get as harsh a flavor as you would unfiltered. The filter (fortunately!) worked this time, and no headache! I’m looking forward to trying it again on a big red and seeing if it helps.