Game Day Sliders

Are you ready for some football??? How about some grilled awesomeness, topped with your favorite, finger-licking good condiments? This is what it means to be an American… To help our favorite team to victory. To meet with friends and family and share in cheers and jeers. To know what it means to get up at dawn in order to get the best spot to tailgate. WE love football (and no we don’t mean soccer). We also definitely know how to eat well on our game days. Everything to go and easy to eat. We know how to transport an entire meal for 20 in one cooler. AND…we know how to eat hamburgers in one bite. I call it the 30 second “yum”. These sliders are awesome game day grub. Fire up the grill, because you won’t want to be missing these little guys. They may sound fancy, but they taste and look All-American.

Seriously though, is anyone else really excited for the football season to start this year? In our household, everyone seems to be a part of game day. Whether it is simply getting ready for the big game, setting up the right TV station (if watching from home), or cooking lots of tasty football appetizer treats, everyone is involved on game day. This year is a new chapter in our family’s football life. It marks the end of my brother’s college football days and has had us all anticipating his NFL beginnings. He is interning right now and very soon finds out if he gets to stay on with the team this year. We all have our fingers crossed! Go David!!

Game Day Sliders

makes about 8 sliders

Prep-Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound premium ground beef
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons diced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon each)
• 4 ounces grated Gruyere
• 8 mini hamburger buns (small brioche buns work too)
• 4 ounces baby arugula
• 2 roma tomatoes sliced
• 1/2 red onion sliced
• ketchup

Preparation:

1. Place the ground beef in a large bowl and add dijon mustard, olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix ingredients together. Do not mash together, just combine. Then, create mini patties (about 2-inches across). Make them equal size and thickness.
2. Let the grill get to medium heat. Add patties and grill until medium rare. About 4-5 minutes. Add grated Gruyere when there is only about 2 minutes or so until your patties are done. Close the grill lid and allow cheese to melt. Remove patties when finished onto plate. Next, add sliced buns to grill. Grill each half for a few seconds.
3. On each bun place baby arugula, tomato slice, onion, and ketchup. Then add grilled patty. Cover with top bun and Serve hot.

Source: modified from The Food Network, Barefoot Contessa.

The Fresh Fridge Tip: Perhaps I should already know this…but when we tried these guys out, I made the initial mistake of making them too small. The patties shrink a little on the grill. So, I recommend making sure these are at least 2 inches across when making the uncooked patties.