Lil' Sherrif's Famous Dinner Special

    While the fast food burger restaurant in the series, as seen below, is fictional, we have all seen something similar & eaten at one of these restaurants. 

This is the first time we see the converted fast food restaurant turned medical clinic. 

I love this little detail!! 

Thank goodness for those chain ropes! Germs can't get past those! lol 

My imagination wants to believe this restaurant served my ultimate favorite burger along with my tried & true sides, so this is our recipe menu...

Famous Cowboy Burgers

    The burger place that professes to be King above all others, did a burger that's no longer on the menu anymore. It was a bacon cheeseburger, with onion rings on top & BBQ sauce. I had something similar years ago at the burger place with a sheriff shaped star as it's logo, but it's rare that I find one, to know if it's still on the menu. That's two places I've had this & it's disappeared from my life. It's my favorite way to eat burgers, so I just started making them myself & dubbing them Cowboy Burgers. My fiance could eat burgers multiple times a week, so I make these as often as I can. While you could certainly make everything in this recipe from scratch, I have made shortcuts to accommodate my physical abilities. 

Ingredients:

4 Pretzel Burger Buns or whatever you have on hand

4 - 100% Angus Beef patties (We use these when we can find them.)

McCormick Grill Mates Hamburger Seasoning ( or Weber Gourmet Burger Seasoning )

8 Slices cooked bacon 

Maple Sugar or Maple Syrup to taste

Cuisinart Barrel Whiskey Sauce ( or this or this )

4 Slices Cheddar Cheese

12 Ore-Ida Onion Ringers (These use chopped onions rather than a sliced ring of onion.) or crispy fried onions

Instructions:

1. Season with hamburger seasoning (or your choice of seasonings) & cook your burgers your fav. way. My fiance likes the crispy sear of the grill, but I prefer to cook them low & slow in a skillet with a lid to get a super juicy patty. Melting the cheddar cheese during the last few mins of cooking.

2. While your burgers are sizzling away, cook your bacon your fav. way. When I can, I prefer to oven cook my bacon on racks with a sprinkle of maple sugar on during the last 10 mins. It gives it a nice sweet crispiness without being cardboard like. I am more of a floppy bacon type & my fiance likes it uber crispy. This is a good compromise between the two.

3. Cook your onion rings according to the package directions. We have an air fryer, so I do them 5-6 mins on each side & then place them on paper towels or newspaper to drain any additional grease.

4. Toast your bun if you so desire using your preferred method. Don't forget the cheese on your burger!

5. I like to add a bit of maple syrup or maple sugar to the BBQ sauce to make it just a bit sweeter for my taste. I also like to warm it in the microwave. Not a fan of cold sauces on hot foods. (Ice cream on pie is an exception of course. )

Assembly: 

1. Toasted bun bottom goes first, then the burger patty with melted cheddar. 

2. Cut 2 slices of bacon in half, & lay the 4 halves across your cheeseburger patty. 

3. Top with 3 cooked onion ringers. 

4. Generously sauce the toasted pretzel bun top & place atop onion rings.

* Optional: Poke a skewer through the center of the burger before serving. (Like these.)

Wanna try it? Printable Recipe here.

Dr (Pick-A-Peck of Pepper & Spices) Soda Baked Beans

Ingredients:

1 - 28 oz can of Maple Cured Bacon Baked Beans

1 small onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup maple sugar or packed brown sugar

1/3 cup Dr Pepper or similar soda

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup bacon, cooked & crumbled into bite-sized pieces

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 8 x 8 oven proof dish/pan

2. Pour beans into an 8 x 8 oven safe dish/pan. Gently stir in onion.

3. Combine sugar, soda, & cloves until sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over bean mixture & st                                                      ir.

4. Bake, covered, 45-60 minutes or until beans are thick & no longer runny.

. 

Wanna try it? Printable recipe here.

Kentucky Fan-made Coleslaw

This is the only way I will eat coleslaw, unless it comes from that restaurant of course.

Ingredients:

1 bag pre-shredded coleslaw or make your own

Dressing:

1/3 cup sugar

1/ tsp salt

1/3 milk

3/4 cup mayo

2 tsp white vinegar

2-1/2 T lemon juice

1 tsp celery seed

Instructions:

1. Mix together the dressing ingredients with a whisk or emulsifier until lumps are gone & sugar is dissolved.

2. Pour over coleslaw mix & toss until everything is evenly coated in dressing.

3. Place in refrigerator & chill for at least 2 hours.

Wanna try it? Printable recipe here. 

Who's thirsty??

    In my research to find native edible vegetation in Yellowstone Park (the setting of our of series.), including looking at the gift shop for the park, I found that Huckleberry, in nearly every form you can imagine, is available for purchase. So I knew I would have to include recipes, featuring this cousin to the blueberry in flavor. I tried to imagine what beverage might be served with our dinner special & when I came across Huckleberry ice cream & flavored beverage, during my online grocery shopping, I immediately thought of floats. My fiance is a massive fan of floats, so I'm always trying to come up with new combos for him to try & this was a perfect addition to go with our dinner special. 

 

Huckleberry Ice Cream Float

Ingredients:

2-3 scoops of Tillamook Ice Cream, Mountain Huckleberry

1 - per person - Clear American Huckleberry Sparkling Juice Beverage, 17 fl oz

Whipped Cream - use your favorite

Huckleberry Syrup or blueberry syrup

Maraschino cherries

Instructions:

1. Place 2-3 scoops of the huckleberry Ice cream in a large handled glass mug.

2. Pour the huckleberry sparkling juice beverage over the ice cream until it reaches 3/4 of the glass.

3. Top with your favorite whipped topping.

4. Drizzle huckleberry syrup over the whipped cream.

5. Add a maraschino cherry to the peak of the whipped topping.

6. Add a colorful milkshake straw/spoon like these or these.

Wanna try it? Printable recipe here.

    Wow, what a lot of work, but it was SO worth it!! I had to divide it over 2 days, as I knew it would be a strain on me. I usually prep the bacon, baked beans, & coleslaw the day before. I don't cook the baked beans, just mix it together & let it marry all the flavors together in the fridge. Then bake it on the day.

    My fiance was in absolute heaven. It's the perfect combo of many of his favorite dishes. I hope you give these as a try, as you'll never be able to go back to regular burgers again! ;-)