Hamburgers with Blue Cheese Sauce

These are plump little burgers complimented with a zesty blue cheese sauce, and sandwiched between crispy slices of Italian bread brushed with olive oil and garlic. A tasty combination!

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• FOR THE TOASTS

• 4  slices  Italian bread, ½ inch-thick cut on the diagonal
•  olive oil, for brushing the bread
• 1  clove garlic, halved

• FOR THE SAUCE

• 2  large shallots, minced
• 1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2⁄3 cup dry red wine
• 2  teaspoons  softened unsalted butter
• 2  tablespoons  crumbled blue cheese

• FOR THE HAMBURGERS

• 1 1⁄2 lbs  ground chuck
•  fresh ground pepper
• 2  teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

1. Make the toasts: Toast the bread on a baking sheet under a preheated broiler about 3 inches from the heat until it is golden.
2. Brush it with oil and turn it.
3. Toast the other side of the bread until it is golden.
4. Brush it with the oil, and rub it with the cut sides of the garlic.
5. Make the sauce: In a small saucepan combine the shallots and the vinegar; bring the vinegar to a boil, and boil it until it is reduced to a glaze.
6. Add the wine and boil it until it measures about ¼ cup.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, swirl in the butter and the blue cheese until the mixture is smooth, and keep the sauce warm.
8. Make the hamburgers: Handling the meat as little as possible, shape it gently into four 1-inch-thick oval patties and season the patties with the pepper.
9. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat until it is hot, sprinkle it evenly with the coarse salt, and in it cook the hamburgers, covered, turning them once, for 6 minutes for medium-rare meat. Set each hamburger on a toast on a plate and spoon the sauce over the hamburgers.