Fast Food Night: Bison Burgers & Sweet Tater Fries

So we miss fast food. We don't miss the gross after eating it feeling but I really miss a huge burger and fries. When Hubs was diagnosed, we got really good at making burgers at home. A friend introduced us to home made sweet potato fries and it was a perfect addition to burger night. Now with no gluten it's impossible to find a good burger bun and I'm still trying recipes. Mostly the best thing to do is make a top 1/2 and bottom 1/2 of a bun rather than try and bake something to be cut in half. Since I'm allergic to beef we use bison.

First I chopped up several raw sweet potatoes. I like the skin on so I don't peel them, I just wash them off and chop them. The sit and dry while the oil heats (they are also good in the oven, baked rather than fried but for fast food night frying is a must).

While the oil gets hot I mix buns. I used a grain free recipe this time that was butter, almond flour, an egg and a little salt. They mix up quickly and go into the oven right before I put in the first batch of sweet taters, and mix the bison. I use 2 pounds because when you're going to make burgers you may as well have leftovers. They freeze well if they make it that long.

Hubs came in and dug out some bacon and beans too. In the bison I mix finely chopped onion, garlic powder and home made chili powder mix. Also an egg to help it stay together. I mix it all well and make four large burgers and two smaller ones - sometimes David will eat two burgers but even he can't do a pound of meat in addition to sides...

The first batch of fries is done before everything else and usually gets eaten before the rest of the food is done. Kind of like an appetizer. Just as we are done with the rest of the food and load up our plates the second batch of fries is complete. The third batch cooks as we eat.... and usually we eat some off the pan like dessert.... They reheat well in the toaster oven so we try not to eat them all.

Hubs made navy beans with a little of this and that. He's getting more creative in the kitchen and likes to throw everything in. It's usually how I cook, but for him it's very new - he's a recipe guy. The beans had kick which he likes.

Oh and don't forget some delicious cheese.... a chunk of grilled onion, some tomato, lettuce and some homemade BBQ sauce for the top....

We didn't get any plated pictures because we ate so fast. And it was amazing. I love good food. I should be a huge person but thankfully I'm not (thank you 24 hour fitness).


Home Made BBQ Sauce
1 cup tomato sauce (I use an organic olive oil, basil & garlic)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 2TBSP vinegar (I use Bragg's Apple Cider)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I use an organic brown sugar)
3 TBSP olive oil (I use about 1.5 TBSP b/c my sauce I use has olive oil in it)
2 TBSP Paprika
1 TBSP Home made Chili powder
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp cayenne

So the original directions say to heat the oil and saute the garlic first then add everything and simmer 15 mins but I just dump all of the above into a sauce pan and simmer it, stirring occasionally until it thickens. Which is usually more like an hour of simmering but only because I like a thicker sauce. The apple cider vinegar is a natural preservative so it keeps in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge for a month or more. Usually we eat it in less than 6 weeks so I'm not sure how long it'd actually last.