burgers and fries.

 

i believe burgers and fries to be high on most peoples lists of favorite guilty pleasures. most things that are considered guilty pleasures make us feel well, guilty for indulging in them. burgers and fries was the traditional meal my grandparents served every saturday night when i was a kid, along with chocolate milk and donuts as a very needed dessert. it was of course delicious, and rarely will a saturday night pass where my pavlov's dog instinct for burgers and fries won't trigger with many warning signs. but this meal was definitely not on the healthy side, definitely not lean meat; fries in the fry daddy, donuts don't really need an explanation for their perfectness, etc. but this recipe for burger and fries meal will not make you feel guilty after consuming it, it will however, make you feel satisfied and shocked at its tasty twist on an old favorite.

so we're still snowed in and trying to make food look cute and taste scrumptious. this really should be my credo at all times right? so sliders seemed like the most appropriate shape for burgers. besides these little egg rolls rolls i purchased at tjs were just the right size.

 

 but first you need to start your fries because they take much longer to cook than the burgers. now don't get upset with me. but i made sweet potato fries. yes, i realize these aren't the traditional fries, but they have so many more health benefits than their whitey white friends. but also, they have great flavor. just trust me, give them a try.

ok so preheat your oven to 350 and slice up this sweet potato in as even of slices as you can.

 

i've been doing the sweet potato fry thing for awhile now, so you might not get your fries as perfect as mine on the first try. just sayin'.

  

spray sweet potato slices with some cooking spray, season with salt, pepper and if you're me and put red pepper flake in everything lately, add some red pepper flake. these take at least 25 minutes to soften and then crisp slightly. i added another 5 minutes after that. give 'em a look and cook more pending on your preference for crispy taters.

ok now you can forget about your fries and focus on your burgers. 

so start off with some mushrooms of course. now you're thinking, say what? oh yeah, we're gonna trick these burgers up with some veggies mixed into the meat.

chop up about half a 10oz container of mushrooms to a rough dice. warm a pan with a teaspoon of your favorite oil, add half a chopped shallot, 1/2 teaspoon of diced garlic and the usual salt and pepper, plus the  mushrooms.

let the mushrooms soften up a bit with the shallots and garlic, maybe 5-7 minutes. then add about 3 tablespoons of beef broth to deglaze your pan. and add a handful or two from that bag of mixed argula in the above picture. let these flavors meld together for another 2 minutes or so. remove from heat.

now you need your meat. i was originally gonna use ground turkey, but i was craving beef. it's what for dinner after all. i did however buy the 96/4 lean beef. but only used half this package, so 1/2 lb for nelzo and i actually worked out perfectly.

 

add the meat to a bowl with your mushroom mixture. then you'll need 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 egg and good doses of salt and pepper.

get in there with your hands. mix it up. get midevil on that meat!

 

this i formed into 4 semi equal-sized patties.

cook on medium heat about 5-7 minutes per side.

chop up some slices of avocado to top your burger.

and cheese of course. come on, you have to cheese. its me.

assemble burgers in the usual manner with a nice helping of your sweet tater fries.

 

we each got two of these sliders, this was just round one. 

while it felt very "saturday night at grandma and papa's" to eat this dinner, it in no way could really compare to what those dinners were really about. to what they probably meant to so many members of my family. not the fried food (which was delicious of course), but the people, the camaraderie, the ease of spending a meal surrounded by family that we all took for granted because it seemed like it would never end. sorry to get all emily webb on you all here...

"pass the ketchup, oh i'm gonna tell! i want a glazed donut, don't talk with your mouth full, can you pick me up next week? are there more napkins? anyone want more of anything? i'm SO full, ok, maybe just one donut, wow, great dinner. thanks for having us grandma and papa, i can't wait to come back next saturday night. i love burgers and fries night."