We love hamburgers in our house, and we particularly love venison burgers, but when you make a full size venison burger, unless you cram it full of pork fat it tends to be very dry. And if you do cram it full of pork fat, in my experience it tends to fall apart. So, the answer to that issue? Sliders! We can keep the portion of pork fat low, retaining the healthy lean goodness of the venison. (Though if you look at my pictures, I did cook them in some serious fat. We weren’t really trying for healthy LOL)

1lb Ground Venison

¼ Ground Pork (Good and Fatty is the key here)

Seasoning (This is totally personal preference here, I love a seasoning called Garlic Garni)

Cheese (Again, total personal preference)

Caramelized Onions - “recipe” on the bottom (Don’t like onions? Suck it up, these are amazing on the slider!)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the meats with about 1 teaspoon of your chosen seasoning, but don’t over mix, just enough to combine the two. Over Mix, you get tough meat. That’s no bueno.

Using an small scoop, portion out your sliders onto a flat board. Gently flatten them out to about 3/4″ thick, gently putting a dent in the center. Sprinkle on a smidge more seasoning.

Now, this part is very very very important. Get your cast iron skillet screaming hot, then turn it down to medium, this helps with the caramelization of the meat (Ok, if you don’t have a cast iron, it’s not a deal breaker, but I love cast iron,…So)

For really yummy delicious sliders, use bacon fat. For healthier sliders, use some olive oil. Drop your sliders into the pan, but don’t over crowd them. Cook them for about 3 minutes on one side, or until the meat is yummy caramelized. Flip and continue to cook until a meat thermometer registers over 160. I’m not going to give you a time on this, because it really ranges. Just cook until done. If you desire cheese, throw it on and let it melt for a few seconds.

These are best served on Hawaiian slider buns, with caramelized onions and just a smidgen of mayo.

Caramelized onions:

Onions

Butter

Cut into thin slices, then place in a pan with butter (a good ratio is 2 tablespoons butter for every onion). Put the pan on low and just let it go. Low and Slow is the name of the game here. Stir them every so often, and when they look golden brown and delicious, pull them off the heat.

(Yes, I really really really like things that are caramelized.)

