Beef Burgers with Peanut Chipotle BBQ Sauce

This morning my eyes fell upon my 2010 Annual Cookbook from Food & Wine.  I told Sweet Harold that I was going to open it at random and as long as it wasn't a dessert recipe, I was going to cook whatever happened to be on that page for supper.  He's always a little scared when I do that, but I call it Adventure Cooking.

And there on Page 152 just waiting on me was a submission from Bobby Flay:  Beef Burgers with Peanut Chipotle BBQ Sauce.  Read through the ingredients and had most of them on hand.  So the decision was made.

First you make the BBQ sauce and as it simmers you can cook the burgers.  We're getting ready for a winter storm here in North Alabama, so I didn't ask him to waste our precious propane gas on the grill to cook these tonight. 

Here we go:

For the sauce:

1 T. vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 T. minced fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup tomato puree (I used tomato sauce with roasted garlic)

2 T. ketchup

1 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. Worcesershire sauce

1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard

2 T. honey

2 T. molasses

3 T. pure ancho chile powder

1 canned chipotle in adobo, minced

1/2 cup water

2 T. creamy peanut butter

In a medium saucepan, heat the 1 T. oil.  Add the onion and ginger and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring.  Add the tomato puree, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, honey, molasses, ancho chile powder, chipotle and water.  Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 30  mnutes.

Transfer the sauce to a blender.  Add the peanut butter and puree until smooth.  Season the BBQ sauce with salt and pepper.

Now to the burgers:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef chuck

1/3 cup shredded cheddar

1 scallion, finely chopped

hamburger buns

Form the meat into four 1 inch thick patties and brush with oil.  Season with salt and pepper and grill over high heat, turning once, until nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Brush the burgers with some of the sauce and grill until lightly glazed about 2 minutes.  Top with the cheddar and scallion, close the grill and cook just until the cheese is completely melted, about 1 minutes.  Set the burgers on the buns, top with lettuce and tomato and serve right away.