Mini Burgers - Mega Taste

Posted by Big Dog at 1/8/2010 12:01 AM
Categories: Recipes
Tags: Beef Grilled Recipe

Mini Burgers, Belly Busters, Sliders,

No matter you call them they are great fun and burger hits. 

For the last 10 years I have been working on making a perfect gourmet burger, whole portoebello mushrooms, two types of bacon, and blue cheese are just some of the ingredients we have played around with. One day the kids ask for just plain burgers, nothing fancy, nothing special ( Why is my family so boring). Here I am making 1 pound burgers with spices from around the world, using fresh ground delicate cuts of beef and pork and my kids want plain Jane burgers, nope I was not going to do it. I'm sure it was their francophone upbringing, and I could just distract them with some gravy and cheese curds, plain burgers, not in my house. 

Last month I had to stop for a quick bite with Son #1 and fast food was the order of the day (ugh). We stopped at the $1.39 value menu and got 4 burgers, they hit the spot, nothing fancy but then again bulk is sometimes  very satisfying. Ok, maybe there is something here, instead of my ususal way of think "go big or go home" I was persuaded to go the simple route. I hope one day the children appreciate the sacrificies I made through the years. I thought a mini-burger might fit my profile, nothing but beef on a bun, the idea was interesting, what could it hurt? 

Homemade Soft Rolls, Hamburger BunsOn one of my favorite sites, a colleague has been land basted for a soft bread recipe that has made him infamous. Not the great sausages, hams, bacon or cured meats he makes, but a simple soft roll hamburger bun recipe that is so easy and fast with incredible results.  I was going to use Phil (Wheels) Young's original recipe which you can find on his web site in the UK, "Local Food Heroes"  Soft Rolls

I hear it's also great for hot dog buns as well.

I want to encourage you to hop over to his site and check out some of the things he's up to, Phil always has something interesting going on.

Now you have to understand, I have the culinary skills of a gnat when it comes to breads, pastry and overall "baking", this is why Susan is such an integral part of the Black Pig Competition BBQ Team.

Notwithstanding, I thought if I can do this recipe then anybody can. I tossed all the ingrediants into the Kitchen Aid as directed and let it do it's thing. The dough is a little sloppy and takes a little patience to get through it all,  remember to keep them in a 2 1/2 inch diameter when putting them on your parchment paper or silicone pad. I added the sesame seeds, what is a hamburger bun without them?
Homemade Soft Rolls, Hamburger Buns
They turned out fairly well and I'm pretty impressed with myself that they were not hockey pucks, much like the last time I tried to make buns from scratch.

Not too long to make, less mess and the rewards, fantastic.!!!


Thanks Phil,

Great little recipe  !!!




Lean Ground Meat for Mini BurgersOn to the Meat,

No additives and no spices not even seasoning, this was going to kill me not to spice it up a bit, but that was the deal. 

REGULAR ground beef from your Mega Mart is what was called for, not super lean, not Angus Surloin but cheap out of the tube beef. 

Roll it out as flat as you can 1/4 inch if you can. I used a 1/2 baking sheet and a rolling pin to get it where I wanted and I could go even thinner for the next round.

While doing this I found in subsequent cooks that I like to put parchment paper under the meat to get them out better. Square off your burgers to make 2 and 1/2 inch squares ( I used a pizza wheel cutter) after putting the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes.Mini Burgers on the Grill The trick here was to get it cold as possible

Cook the patties on your grill or frying pan, you should cook as many as you can at once cause they tend to disapear faily fast. The traditional way to cook them is to put finely chopped onion on your grill, let them sear for a minute and set the meat on top of it. In a subsequent cook we tried it with mixed reaction, if you liked grilled onions this is the way to go.

If you are wondering why the checkerboard pattern on the grill, it is not for photographic effect. When I flip the burgers, they will go to a new hot spot instead of the place where they previously sat.

(Is that anal or what???)


Dress with ketchup, mustard and a slice of pickle, refrain from going crazy and you will find yourself enjoying the simpler things in life. WHO KNEW!

The kids just loved these things and we made 40 forJosh's birthday party, one of his friends ate 9 of them along with hotdogs and other party offerings. While I think these are so good, I could not get Barb to eat one. I insisted that she try them as shown and she would not budge. I thought of shoving one down her mouth but thought otherwise, my life preservation skills kicked in (that's kinda new), thank goodness for personal growth.

I gave in and changed the condiments to just ketchup and onions (her favorite on a hot dog), she bought in, tried them and was in heaven, double orders for next weekend. 

    

Goes to show you as much as you want people to try what you designed you have to be flexible to what your patrons want. All I ask is to keep it simple hold to the basics and you will enjoy these little beauties.

Mini-Burgers, Mega Taste

If you notice there is no gravy or cheese curds on the plate, a mark of true sucess!!!




Cheers from the Big Dog




 

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