Summertime Heat Grilled Burger Sliders and Fries Meal

Grilled Burger Sliders and Fries Meal

The heat has finally amped up in Central Oregon, and being in the mid-90s with no A/C means salads and outdoor grilling and cooking! Last night we had chef’s salad out on the back deck. The night before, more grilled tortilla pizzas with pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives and onions. (See, I told you we would be eating those grilled tortilla pizzas all summer!)

Tonight, my husband made this meal in its entirety, so I take no claim to it, but seeing as I haven’t posted a new recipe in awhile I decided to share with you.

If you have some hot days on the horizon, this is a great meal choice. And I just love King’s Hawaiian rolls as a slider bun choice. They are so moist, ever so slightly sweet, but still hold up well to a slider burger.

Since you can use any condiments/veggies you’d like on a slider burger and prep the ground burger any way you’d like, no recipe really but just some photos through his process. We had to wait for a sudden thunder-boomer to pass over to finally get this on the grill, hence some lower light photos. But it was all delicious!

Summertime Heat Grilled Slider Burgers and Fries Meal

Season and prep the burger into mini-patties, then slice up your veggies and fries. Put your veggies (we had mushrooms and onion) on a foil-made pan. Wrap King’s Hawaiian rolls in foil. Preheat your grill and if you have an outdoor burner and cast-iron skillet, turn the burner on too and preheat the oil. If not, you could use your indoor burner (at risk of heating up the house!) Put those fries on first at least 5 or so minutes before anything else as they’ll take longer.

Frying the Fries on Grill Burner

Then put the burgers and veggies on the lower rack of grill, and the buns on the top rack. Monitor the burgers and veggies as needed, as well as the fries. Flip the burgers around the 5-minute mark, and stir the veggies and fries.

Burger Slider Meal on Grill

After you flip over the burger sliders, add any kind of cheese on top if you want. Hubby used thick chunks of Monterrey Jack cheese, but you could be more conservative on that if you want. (No, those are NOT slices of butter!)

Burger Sliders with Monterrey Jack Cheese

When the cheese is melted and the burgers are done to your liking, remove them to a plate. Remove the warmed slider buns, too. Finish cooking the fries, if they aren’t already done, and let drain on paper towels. Dress each of your slider burgers up as desired. Aside from the onions and mushrooms, I added a light layer of mayo to each side of the bun, and a fresh tomato slice. Serve with fries.

Grilled Burger Sliders and Fries Meal

 

 

Advertisement

Spicy Beef, Onions, and French Fries Stir Fry (And a Free 2013 Owl Calendar!)

Spicy Beef Onions and French Fries Stir Fry

What an odd combination, say you? But it was amazingly good! I wanted to make something completely different from the leftover Christmas rib roast, and after scouring the interwebz I came across this recipe from Woman’s Day magazine. I was shocked to find I had all the ingredients on hand (or a good substitute),  including the jalapeño. The stars were aligned. The leftover portion of the roast was rare, so it made a fine candidate for a stir fry. Of course you can use any fresh beef for this too. I even had fresh cilantro in the fridge, because I found an amazing method to store cilantro for up to three weeks or so on Pinterest. Yes, it really works! Trim the cilantro to fit upright in a glass jar filled with water,  cover with a Ziploc bag, and store in the refrigerator. Refresh the water every few days, and you’ll have cilantro on hand any time you want. Oh! And at the bottom of this post, I have added a link for you to download and print a free, customizable 2013 owl calendar. Now don’t you agree the stars are aligned? 🙂

Spicy Beef, Onions, and French Fries Stir Fry

1 pound of boneless beef, sliced thin
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups frozen french fries
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large yellow sweet onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced thinly lengthwise
1 can low-sodium diced tomatoes (or three Roma tomatoes, chopped)
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Cooked rice (optional)

Add the steak to a large Ziploc bag, then add the garlic, soy sauce and cumin. Seal the bag, and squish it all around so that the beef is evenly coated. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bake the fries according to the package directions. About 10 minutes before the fries are done, add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large skillet or wok to medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until lightly browned about five minutes. Transfer the beef to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Add the teaspoon of oil to the hot skillet, then add the sliced onion and jalapeno and cook until tender, about another five minutes. Now add the tomatoes and their liquid plus black pepper to taste. Stir until heated through.  Last, add the beef back to the skillet, the chopped cilantro, and stir to combine. Even though this has potatoes in it, I served this with cooked white rice, but that is completely optional. And don’t forget the cilantro! I took my serving photos, then realized I forgot to add the cilantro. So I tossed some quickly into the wok for a final shot with it. The cilantro adds a wonderful flavor to this spicy dish. (p.s. don’t forget to download your free owl calendar at the bottom of this post!)

Spicy Beef, Onions, and French Fries with Cilantro

Click on the image  below for your free calendar!

Tasty Ranch Oven Fries

Bowl O' Ranch Fries

Last week I had planned on having homemade chicken tenders and some frozen french fries I thought I had spied in the freezer. Well I made it through the chicken part OK, but when I went to grab the fries out of the freezer, I discovered they were hash browns instead. So, we had hash browns with our tenders. Potatoes are potatoes, right? However, I got a little overzealous with the amount of chicken tenders, and had plenty leftover for another meal. So a couple of days later, I decided I would make some fries from scratch to go with the leftovers.

Fries prepped for oven

I knew I wasn’t going to fry the potatoes in oil, but I also wanted lots of flavor without the fat or salt. Last fall, in my continuing quest to save space in the cooler we haul to the coast packed with our fridge supplies for our RV, I bought some packets of dried Ranch dressing. While I thought I had used all of them, I found a half-used packet thrown in with a bunch of other miscellaneous half-used packets in a ziploc baggie. Do you do that? I don’t know why I save those things, I can only imagine how old some of them must be! Anyways,  finding that sparked an idea in my mind that it would be a great way to season up the fries for the oven.  If I make these again, I’ll leave the skins on to make them more like steak fries, but I had already peeled the potatoes by the time I figured out what I was going to do.

Ranch Oven Fries

Potatoes
Packet of dried Ranch dressing
Black pepper

The potatoes can be peeled or unpeeled. Cut the potatoes into even slices or wedges. Rinse them then immediately put them in batches into a ziploc bag with the dried ranch dressing. Shake around to coat. Place them on a pan lined with crunchled aluminum foil. (This helps to bake them underneath.) Season with lots of black pepper. Lightly spray with olive oil, flip the potatoes over and lightly spray the other side. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes until done.