Our Last-minute, Impromptu Gourmet BBQ

Saturday night my plans were foiled. Matt had invited some of our close friends over for dinner and I had this gourmet, healthy meal all planned out and ready to go and then I heard those dreaded words: "The fights are on tonight." Needless to say, my dinner plans had gone awry and it was on to plan b. Now, in my house, I don't like to do anything half-ass, so throwing some premade patties on the grill wasn't happening. I gave him a grocery list and sent him on his merry way and got to brainstorming how I could turn this into an awesome "gourmet" BBQ for nine.

The Burgers:

I made half with turkey and half with beef. I threw each in a huge bowl with feta, chopped mushrooms and diced onions and rolled each patty about 1 1/2 inches thick. They guys grilled them and they looked (and smelled) awesome.

The Buns:

I had him pick up whole wheat buns (for health, obviously) and because I didn't exactly have the time to made brioche buns from scratch, I mixed whole milk in a bowl with an egg, whipped them together and dipped each bun in the mix. The guys tossed them on the grill and voila! An impromptu "brioche" bun.

The Beans:

Baked beans can never just be from the can. If you don't have time to make them from scratch, there's always things you can add to spice them up- literally. I opened two large cans into a pot and warmed them. I threw in chopped up bacon, some BBQ sauce, a bit of ketchup, Louisiana hot sauce, cracked pepper, cayenne and red chili flakes. It really brought out a great, original flavor!

The Potato Salad:

My sister, whom I have never seen cook before, made the most amazing warm potato salad... almost like a mashed potato salad I guess? She took new potatoes (aka red potatoes) and boiled them until soft, then drained and mashed them with a ton of green onions, sour cream, some margarine and cracked pepper. I have a basil plant growing rampant so I chopped some up and threw it in- perfection!

The "Onion Rings":

My spiral slicer is my best friend. I ran two white onions through it, and in a seperate bowl I mixed together milk, two eggs, chili pepper, cracked pepper, and paprika. I dredged the onions in the mixture and then tossed them in a bowl of panko bread crumbs. Baked at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes and I ended up with a casserole type of dish to be scooped onto the burgers. 

The In-n-out Secret Sauce:

I wanted to come up with something else to set these burgers apart (as if the onions and feta brugers and "brioche" buns wouldn't do that) so I made my own version of In-n-out's secret sauce which is also very similar to the sauce at Gott's Roadside. It's just mayo (I buy mayo made with olive oil), ketchup, white vinegar, relish and pepper!


My sister and I, very proud of ourselves!

The Finished Product:

Bomb*

*Yes, I am still doing paper plates, plastic cups and utensils. I refuse to have to wash more dishes unnecessarily yet. My bridal shower is in a month, so I can wait until my kitchen is fully outfitted before I get to know that dishwasher any better ;)