Friday: Bison Burgers and Grilled Sweet Potato Fries

I know I didn't post the chicken dish yesterday; it was GOR-geous oootside and it was all grilling, alla time. I figured, after reviewing my meal plan, that I would shake things up a little bit. I am moving the Tuscan Chicken meal to Sunday, as the Broccoli Chicken Casserole, while original, bears a lot of resemblance to pouring cream of broccoli soup all over some chicken. With more broccoli.

Onto the burgers! I bought the ground bison at our local Farmer's Market, from Alberta Bison Ranch out of Mayerthorpe; they of www.albertabison.ca and thought I would make burgers, given how lovely the weather has been / is supposed to be. Bison can be tricky, as it is quite lean (which is also one of the best things about it), so you want to make sure you don't overcook it, and you give it lots of reasons to remain juicy. I typically switch it out for any other kind of ground meat, I especially like it in chili and spaghetti. Burgers are nice because it allows the flavour of the meat to shine through, and this bison did not disappoint. Such a great taste!

I love that summer is now here and the Farmer's Markets are open and you can cook using local ingredients, so much better to know where your food is coming from. You have to pay attention, though, I once bought some back bacon at a different market and it had many more chemicals in it than a plain old store-bought one. Vigilance!

I am also going to be grilling some potato wedges, too hot to bake. Sweet potatoes are so yummy like this, a bit crunchy and the sweetness really comes through.

You will need:

1 lb ground bison
1/2 c old-fashioned or slow oats
1/2 c kale, carrot or spinach puree - I used kale, picked up at the same Farmer's Market
1 small onion, grated or minced
1 egg
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp mustard
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili flakes
1 lb potatoes, including sweet, russet, and / or red skinned
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt, pepper

Start to heat your barbecue. Very much like any other burger, go ahead and throw everything in a large bowl and mix well. A note about the veggies: if you don't have a finicky partner with a hate-on for onions, you could just mince the onion and be done with it. Grating is my stealth method, but it does create more liquid, which is something you are fighting against but also with when it comes to bison burgers. You want to give it lots of reasons to stay moist but not make it too crumbly. That's where the kale / spinach / carrot puree comes in. I am using kale and some cauliflower puree I had just kicking around.

Looks like a sundae gone wrong

You could use a spatula, but your fingers are gonna work better than anything. This is a good time to check how moist your mixture feels, if it feels too wet to make a good solid patty, add a little bit more oats or a bread crumb or two.

Gishy

Throw some wax paper in between layers.

Set aside, start prepping your potatoes. If you can, put the burgers in the freezer, just to help firm them up for the grill. No more than 10 minutes, though. We don't want to double freeze!

Cut your potatoes in halves, then into wedges.

Can you tell that the knife is on an angle? Sort of.

 You should be able to get about 12 wedges out of a big potato. Place in another large bowl, pour in the tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle on kosher salt and pepper, about 1/2 tsp each. That really is to taste, add as much or as little as you like

Oil your grill; place everything on it spaced out a little bit.

You will want a little bit more space than this for your wedges, flip them periodically and test for doneness, about 12-14 minutes. Ballpark. The burgers should take about 12-15 minutes, be sure not to overcook.

Let the burgers rest while you assemble your bun and etc, done! I made 9 burgers at 107 calories each, so with my bun and potatoes and broccoli, I came in at just over 400 calories. And that burger was fantastic, look at it!

Near

Far!

Near again!

Enjoy! Thanks to the ranchers at Alberta Bison for the great meat!