DIY Sliders

Since I just did a post on build-your-own mimosas, I thought I would do this next post on what I view as the male equivalent: burgers. Well, burgers are not actually the male equivalent, I don't actually know what the male equivalent of a mimosa is...a beer? But I do know men like burgers. Well, I'm not actually going to post on burgers, I'm going to post on sliders, their cute alternative.

Image from Saveur.com

As cupcake is to cake, slider is to burger. We've experimented with many a variation of the classic burger over the years, our favorite probably being the blue cheese and mushroom burger...mmm, burger... so we thought why not have a build-your-own slider bar. *Note I'm referring to "we" in this post because the hubby is the grill-master and meat cooker extraordinaire, while I merely prepare toppings and accoutrements.*

Meats: The hubby likes to grind his own meat using a meat grinder attachment to our KitchenAid (such a great wedding gift!)

• Beef chuck (anything with a 20% fat content)
• Lamb
• Bison
• You could also try sliders with a variety of other meats including pulled pork, ground turkey or even as a lobster roll (see Smitten Kitchen's recipe)
  

Toppings:

• Cheeses: blue, Mt. Tam (triple creme from Cowgirl Creamery), aged cheddar, goat, or anything else your heart desires!
• Bacon
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Onions (raw and/or grilled)
• Traditional veggies such as lettuce and tomato
• Traditional condiments such as mustard, mayo and ketchup
• I also love a fried egg on my burger, but with these diminutive burgers I felt like the chicken egg would be too large (and I couldn't find a suitable substitute like a quail egg)
• Get creative with your toppings and don't be afraid to experiment!

Some of our favorite combos:

• Beef with Mt. Tam cheese, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and onions.
• Lamb with goat cheese, lettuce and tomato.
• Bison with blue cheese, lettuce and onion.
  

Mix it up and enjoy!

*Sorry for the lack of pictures with this post, we devoured all the sliders within a manner of minutes.