It has been a while since we have shared a recipe – in fact, I can’t recall the last time. We used to do this a lot, back in the day. So why not get back to that?
On Sunday we hosted a Super Bowl party at our house and we had decided to just have “snacky” things. This would have been perfect if we would have just stuck to chips & dip – but quickly we turned it into a full menu: sliders (two kinds), pepperoni & mozzarella braided bread, a bucket of guacamole, taquitos, queso, meat & cheese plate, rum cake, chocolate cake, chips & dip and jalapeno popper dip w/ baguets.
Glad we kept it “snacky”.
So one of our contributions was a bacon wrapped cheeseburger that was a hit. So here is a quick walk thru of our method to this perfect slider.
Step 1… beer. As always. Beers and more beers. Just kidding. Kinda.
Seriously – first you need to gather ingredients – let me list:
- 2 lbs of 80/20 hamburger meat (or turkey, bison – whatever floats your boat)
- 1 egg
- 1 pack of bacon (what does that come in – a pound?)
- cheese slices (your choice)
- Hawaiin Rolls (we went with the jalapeno version)
- butter (maybe half a stick)
- breadcrumbs
- Seasonings: garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, hamburger seasoning (optional – hell all of this is optional – season it however you want)
- Beer (seriously, drink beer)
- Cast Iron Skillet (or two, and it’s not really an ingredient – but you get the idea)
Once you have gathered all your goods – let’s get to marrying these things together.
First thing first, put your beef in a bowl and throw an egg & breadcrumbs in there and work that all equally. I wish I could tell you how much of each thing – but honestly I’m an eyeball-er. I season by look, smell, and taste.
After working that over for a while – it’s time to start making some patties. Now, remember these are sliders, not big ass burgers. Keep it reasonable – but also remember there will be shrink’age. Make a ball about this size:
Once you have made a good sized ball, take and wrap that bad boy with the bacon. Try not to drool on it while doing so.
I cut the bacon in half, then with the thicker side of the bacon I was able to wrap most of the meatballs just once and it was good enough for me. With the Thinner pieces I would double wrap (like above). Either way, it’s bacon – its burger – can’t go wrong with a bit more.
Once each one was wrapped I placed it in my cast iron skillet. I am a big cast iron fan, mine is good and seasoned by now – so no need to grease or anything (plus its about to get filled with bacon & butter… so chill out. I just filled each one like so:
Looking good, but we are only half way there. Now if you wanted to cook these inside on the stove top, great – go for it… but I’m a man and men cook on grills. So I cranked up the gas grill to 400 and I put these meaty sliders on the grill. It didn’t take long to get things sizzling. Once the skillets were good and hot, I added the butter to each pan. This is probably overkill – but it was for the Super Bowl… no such thing as overkill. Here is a tasty look of the patties on the grill.
Mouth watering? mmmmMmmmm mine is.
Let’s see the final product eh?
Tasty little bugger – I would say w/ the cheese add, a lil bit of mustard – tasty-tasty. Would recommend. They were also very awesome leftovers. If you are looking for a tasty slider for your next party or just because (Valentines for your man?) – try these Perfect Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders out. They are $. Now here is a picture of us on the patio, enjoying the best Super Bowl of all time.
