Game Day Eats: Bacon Mushroom Sliders

Looking for some meal ideas for Super Bowl Sunday? I'll give you a couple new ones this week starting  with this one.

To be honest, I'm not sure what all the fascination the last several years has been with "sliders." For those that don't know, sliders are just small hamburgers. They get their name, as I understand it, from the tendency of White Castle burgers to slide right through you. In the last decade, though, they've become something of a culinary, but when all is said and done, they're just small hamburgers.

I decided to make them, to get my two-year-old to try something different, and it worked. So be creative with these and do with them what you'd like.

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Garlic powder
3 slices of bacon
3 slices of cheese
Sliced mushrooms
Slider rolls (or small dinner rolls)

Directions
Fry up the bacon until crisp. Saute the mushrooms in some of the bacon drippings. Keep bacon and mushrooms warm on the side.

Mix the beef with Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Divide it up to make six small patties. Grill the burgers or cook them in a frying pan. Two to three minutes on each side should be plenty. Top each with half a slice of bacon, half a slice of cheese and some mushroom slices, plus your favorite burger toppings.

As I said, the little man like these burgers built to his scale. He also enjoyed the baked sweet potato fries on the side.

Mexican Lasagna

Back during my bachelor days in Kentucky I found a recipe for something called Mexican Lasagna on a package of ground turkey. I used to make it fairly often, as it was super easy and made enough for a couple days worth of leftovers.

For some reason, after I moved to North Carolina, I never made it again, which is strange, because my wife loves Mexican. So a few weeks ago, when we were looking for a fresh meal idea, I searched for that little recipe sticker that I was certain I had kept all those years ago. Alas, I could not find it in my collection of recipes or anywhere online, but a few similar recipes jogged my memory, and I've been able to recreate it. My wife loves it, but the two-year-old is not a huge fan, as it's a little spicy, though that can be adjusted, which we hope means he will start eating it the next time we make it.

IngredientsCorn tortillas
1 lb ground beef or turkey
Taco seasoning (Or your own spices. I use cumin, chili powder, cayenne, garlic powder and red pepper)
1 can diced tomatoes (I've used ones with green chiles and ones that are seasoned for chili, but I'm gonna try plain for the youthful palate at the table)
1 small can green chiles (optional)
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

DirectionsBrown beef or turkey and season to taste. Stir in tomatoes (including liquid), black beans and green chiles if desired. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Spread some enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish. Line the dish with tortillas. In the oval dish I use, I put two whole tortillas and then tear a third in half to cover the whole surface for each layer. Top the tortillas with more enchilada sauce, half the meat mixture, then one third of the cheese. Add another layer of tortillas, sauce, rest of the meat mixture, another third of the cheese. Put on one more layer of tortillas, the rest of the enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and everything is bubbly and hot.

Serve up like regular lasagna, but with your favorite Mexican toppings, like guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

Family Dinner: Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a quintessential family dinner. There are a million ways to make it, and I've tried plenty of them. From what I've learned, meatloaf needs three basic ingredients: meat, eggs, breadcrumbs. On top of that are plenty of variations. So here's one I just made the other day.

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce

Mix all the ingredients except ketchup in a large bowl. Spray a 13"x9" baking pan with cooking spray. Form the meat mixture into a loaf in the pan. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove. Increase the oven temperature to 400. Brush the top of the meatloaf with ketchup. Return to the oven for 15 minutes or until the meat is fully cooked to 160 degrees. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving. I like mine with more ketchup.

 

Among the variations you can try, make it with ground turkey, or top with beef or mushroom gravy. Try adding some grated parmesan cheese to the mix. This is a great dish to experiment with, especially the seasonings you add. Try different combinations and see what you like best.

Crock Pot Chili

Is it ironic that when the weather gets cold, you can warm up with something called chili?

Anyway... here's another great Crock Pot classic that has dinner hot and ready as soon as you get home from a long day in the salt mines. And lemme tell you, there's something special about pulling into your garage and being able to smell your slow-cooked dinner wafting all the way from the kitchen.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or 2 cans Mexican/chili seasoned diced or stewed tomatoes (based on your preference)
1 can chili beans (heat level to your preference)
1 can black beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
Cumin
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Red pepper
Cayenne pepper

Directions
Brown the meat in a skillet. While it cooks, turn on the Crock Pot, and drain all the cans of beans EXCEPT the chili beans. Dump all the beans and tomatoes in the Crock Pot, and add the spices to your preference. (I find that cumin, though, is key in getting a good, earthy flavor in my Mexican cooking, including chili) Stir the mixture. When the meat is browned, drain off the fat and stir the meat into the tomato and bean mixture. Put the lid on and let it cook.

Remember, if you're planning to let it cook all day, turn the Crock Pot on low. If you only have about four hours, use high.

We like to serve this up with hot corn bread or some crackers and shredded cheese. I add hot sauce. The wife likes sour cream. Add whatever you want.

Gold Medal Meals: Beef Stroganoff

OK. I admit it. I dropped the ball. An out-of-town weekend trip and the busyness of life with two kids kept me from continuing my plan of a meal from a different nation each night of the Olympics. So on this night where London extinguished its cauldron, I decided to make one more Gold Medal Meal.

One of the traditions of the Closing Ceremonies at the Olympics is the hand-off to the next host city. In this case, London passes off to Rio De Jeneiro, Brazil, for the next summer games, but the next host is Sochi, Russia, home of the XXII Olympic Winter Games. So in honor of Russia, I decided to make Beef Stronganoff (or Stronganov).

As I often do, I searched for an easy recipe for the dish, and then added a few touches of my own. In addition to getting me back to the Olympic theme, this unlike many of the other Gold Medal Meals, fits with the theme of simplicity in cooking this blog targets.

Ingredients
12-16 oz package egg noodles
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (low or reduced fat preferably)
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to directions.

In large skillet over medium-high heat, brown ground beef. Just before it's all done, drain the grease. Stir in the onion, and cook two more minutes. Stir in garlic and mushrooms. Cook two more minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in soup, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 8-10 minutes. Stir in sour cream, simmer two more minutes. Serve over noodles.

It's not the most photogenic dish, but it's pretty tasty, even if our little guy wasn't willing to give it a chance. My wife and I talked about how it would be an easy dish to hide some veggies, like diced carrots, by adding them in with the meat and other veggies.