Beer & Bison Burgers with Garlic Pub Cheese and Bacon & Egg Potato Salad

Ground bison can be shaped into burgers and grilled just like ground beef, but the result is a substantially looser, leaner burger, much lower in fat than its ground-beef cousin. On a hot grill, bison burgers have a tendency to fall apart; we use rolled oats to bind the patties with the beer just a little bit. Because they are so lean, they tend to get a little dry, which is where our homemade pub cheese enters the picture. Eating a lower-fat burger justifies spooning what is essentially cream cheese on top, and as soon as the pub cheese hits the hot burger, it runs and drips in rivulets throughout the grassy, Earthy, protein-rich meat. It’s a delicious alternative to your basic burger, and is perfect for days with nothing to do but sit around the grill, drinking beer and thinking about America.

Beer & Bison Burgers with Garlic Pub Cheese
Adapted from a recipe in Sunset magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground bison
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup amber ale, such as Gritty’s Vacationland, divided
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 large garlic cloves
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese
• 4 hamburger buns or soft Kaiser rolls
• 2 tbl butter
• 2 cups alfalfa or broccoli sprouts

Method:

Mix bison, oats, and 2 tablespoons ale in a large bowl. Form into four 1/2 inch patties, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. For the pub cheese, pulse garlic in food processor until diced. Add cheeses and continue pulsing until smooth. Grill burgers, turning once, about 6 minutes total for medium. While burgers grill, brush buns with butter and grill until lightly browned. To serve, arrange burgers on bottom of buns and top with sprouts. Spread bun tops with cheese mixture and serve immediately.

Jillian likes her potato salad jammed up with vegetables, accoutrements, and condiments. Feel free to add more potatoes, if copious quantities of starchy tubers are more your thing.

Bacon and Egg Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 16 oz fingerling potatoes
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
• 4 strips of bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• splash of Worcestershire sauce
• dash of paprika, dill, garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Cube and cook the potatoes in salted, boiling water until fork-tender; toss with lemon juice and spiced. Combine gently with other ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tagged as: bison, burger, cheese, potato, salad

About the Author: Malcolm Bedell

My first memories of cooking start in Maine at six years old, when I wore a yellow rainslicker to avoid getting spattered by the bacon I was frying in a skillet. My interest in both Mexican cooking and recreating classic New England dishes from scratch developed while living in Mexico, on a steady diet of pork and habanero peppers. You can see more of my writing and photography online on Serious Eats, the Huffington Post, BlogHer, and Foodista, as well as in print for Downeast, Indulge, and Cigar Snob magazines.