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

 

 

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Sloppy Joes Sliders

Sloppy Joes Sliders Fresh Out of Oven

Until I made these last week, I had not had Sloppy Joes in upwards of 30 years, seriously. My mom always made them from the stuff out of a can, and it was one of my least favorite meals she made us as kids. Don’t get me wrong, my mom is a fantastic cook, but when you have six kids in soccer and the various games and practice schedules, sometimes dinner just had to be quick and easy. I was inspired to make these after making Baked Ham and Swiss Sliders for Super Bowl, but wanted to make it from scratch and had to rely on what was in the fridge and pantry, (except for the King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, which I insisted hubby drive to the store to get for me after he dropped our daughter off at piano lessons). First off, the variations to make these are off the charts. So I printed out two of the recipes combined them to give me the basis for the sauce. My daughter was gone for dinner that night, so I only prepared a half-rack of rolls, but made enough Sloppy Joes so that we could just heat up the Joes and plop on the rolls for a quick lunch/snack later in the week. I am happy I made these, and now have another ground beef meal to add to the rotation. Feel free to leave off the roll-topping sauce at the end, but it does add a wonderful dimension to the flavor.

Sloppy Joes Ground Beef, Peppers, and Onions

Sloppy Joes Sliders

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup hot water
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/8 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or regular)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or regular)
1/4 teaspoon dried ground mustard
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or regular)
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 6-ouce can of tomato paste
1 12-count package King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Shredded Swiss Cheese

Sloppy Joes Mixture

For the roll topping:
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Sloppy Joes Ready to Top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onions, red bell pepper, and garlic with ground black pepper to taste. When cooked through and starting to stick, drain the grease and deglaze the pan with the hot water.  Reduce the heat to medium, then add the rest of the ingredients except the rolls, cheese, and roll topping. Mix well and simmer until heated through and thickened, about 10 or 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix all the roll-topping ingredients and microwave for 30 seconds. Next assemble the sliders. Cut the rolls in half lengthwise, add the bottom of teh rolls to a lightly oil-sprayed casserole dish, then layer the Sloppy Joes on the bottom of the rolls. Next top with Swiss cheese. Last, add the roll tops, then brush the roll-topping over the rolls. Cover with foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover, and broil for just a few minutes. Keep an eye on them! Mine started to burn pretty quickly, so ended up with a few slightly more than browned on top. Good thing my hubby likes burnt toast, he got the darker ones. These sure were good, and way better than that stuff out of the cans!

Sloppy Joes Slider

Baked Ham and Swiss Cheese Sliders ~ A Party Hit!

Baked Ham and Swiss Sliders

I was invited to a very good friend’s house for Super Bowl Sunday, and she said I didn’t have to bring anything except myself and daughter (hubby was out of town), and that there would be plenty of food. I accepted, with reservations in my mind. You see, I’d been seeing these fantastic ham and cheese sliders posted on Pinterest for quite awhile, and I was really hankering to make them. I called her the next day and asked if I could go ahead and make them for the Super Bowl party. She of course said it was OK, but warned me it really wasn’t necessary. Well! I am so glad I did make them! They were a fantastic hit, and I’m chagrined I made half of them with just turkey and Swiss cheese and mayo. The issue is we had a few picky kid eaters at the house, but two of the three tried the ham ones with the Dijon/Worcestershire/Onion sauce and ended up loving them! So I ended up with some turkey ones left to bring home, but my daughter took those for school lunch the next couple of days, so it worked out. The original recipe for this came from King’s Hawaiian website, recipe here. My adaptation was to use fresh onion instead of dried, less butter and deli meat (a pound per 12 rolls is a bit overkill on the meat, but certainly feel free to add that amount if you want).  A lot of the recipes on Pinterest use poppy seeds instead of sesame. Poppy seeds are very expensive, did you know that?

These are a cinch to make and can be easily halved per the original recipe. But a double batch will fly off the plate!  So why not bookmark this page for a great party/potluck idea? I’m just adding the recipe below for the Ham and Swiss sliders, since the Turkey and Swiss just didn’t do it for me.

Pan of Ham and Swiss and Turkey and Swiss Sliders

Baked Ham and Swiss Cheese Sliders

2 12-packs King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound thinly sliced deli ham
Sliced swiss cheese to fit, about 10-12 slices
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a large bread knife, cut the entire block of rolls in half, keeping the tops and bottoms intact. Lay the bottom halves in a 9 x 13 baking pan (the two fit perfectly!). In a small bowl, microwave the butter, onion, Dijon, and Worcestershire for two minutes, covered. Bowl and steam will be HOT! Carefully uncover and spread half the mixture on the bottom of the rolls. Layer the ham and cheese, then add the tops of the rolls. Mix the sesame seeds into the rest of the butter mixture, then spread the rest of it on top of the rolls. Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 minutes more. Separate sandwiches with a sharp knife. Serve hot to your hungry guests immediately!

Edit: I forgot I to tell you I sprayed the baking pan lightly with oil to prevent sticking!