Yep. Cedar-plank cool Ranch Doritos. “Now what in the world is he up to now?” It’s ok if that’s what you’re thinking. My wife certainly thought the same thing. Then she tried them. Then she knew. They’re fantastic! She doesn’t doubt me any more! Well, at least not when it comes to grilled tortilla chips!
Once you have soaked your board you’re only minutes away from enjoying these delicious chips. They take truly almost no time at all. You can easily feed a small crowd with just a few planks and a few bags of chips.
Not Just For Show
Cedar-plank cool Ranch Doritos look cool. I think they did. It’s not every day that I see a load of chips going onto the grill. Well, not until I did them at least. Now I see it all of the time. They’re the perfect snack. Or side. The cedar aroma and flavor is not overpowering. It’s subtle. You still get the classic chip flavor. But it’s more pronounced. Stronger. Better. And the chips are crunchier.
These little bites of deliciousness are fantastic hot off the grill.
Soak plank (or planks if you need more than one) in water for at least 1 hour.
Fire up your grill to medium-high heat, around 400 F.
Place the plank over indirect heat. Add the chips. Close the lid.
Let the chips grill for 2-5 minutes. Check them at least once. If they start to turn dark brown or char on the edges, remove them.
Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Note: If you prefer a stronger cedar flavor and aroma, place your soaked plank over direct heat for a few minutes first. Get a nice char on the plank. Then move it to indirect heat and add the chips.
I was lucky as a kid because for a while we lived near a Roy Roger’s Restaurant. My favorite burger as a tyke was the Double R Bar burger. It wasn’t anything fancy, pretty much your standard burger, but it was topped with seared ham. Ham. And no ketchup or anything like that for me. BBQ sauce. For some reason my kid taste buds screamed for that combination. Many years later I make them at home, with a slight twist. Beyond the Double R Bar smash burger. I might put a bit more on them than just BBQ sauce, but they’re still mighty darned good.
There’s Nothing Wrong With Simple
This isn’t some kinda fru-fru fancy, thick, topped-with-stuff-you-can’t-pronounce burger. It’s a good ole backyard burger. Double R Bar smash burgers just have that slight twist that makes you think “hey, even if it’s simple, it’s special”.
The equipment
Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.
The griddle
First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.
Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, specially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.
Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.
Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. Then I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.
Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Season the ground beef with salt and pepper and form into four 4 ounce balls (not patties!).
Place the balls of beef on the griddle and let cook for one minute. Just let them cook, don't mess with them.
Take your press and flatten out the patties. I like to use the point of the press and work my way around the ball first, doing a little section at a time and then finally I press down on the entire patty to flatten it out. You can also just flatten out the ball all at once. At this point I also like to season the patties some more.
Let the patties cook until you start to notice a little char along the edges.
Flip, season again if desired, and continue cooking another minute or so until the other side is charred. The burgers are thin so they will cook very quickly so watch out.
Add the cheese slices. If desired, cover in a dome to help the cheese melt.
Meanwhile, place the ham onto the griddle and let brown, cooking for about 2 minutes.
Flip and cook another minute to get a little color on the other side. Remove.
Toast the buns.
Slather one side of each bun with your desired condiments.
Remove the patties from the grill and place on top of the bun bottoms.
Add the ham, followed by the onion, tomato, lettuce and pickles, as desired.
We were on vacation in Sevierville TN when we had to swing by a Publix grocery store for a few items. I always make sure I peruse the snack and wing sauce aisles of grocery stores when I’m out of town. I never know what I might find. Well, this time, the food gods were shining down on me because I found Old Bay Goldfish crackers. But when I returned home, I could not find them in our stores. That one little bag I had bought did not last long. I needed more. So I made homemade Old Bay Goldfish crackers instead! Just as good, and actually a bit better.
Better. Much Better.
Why are my homemade Old Bay Goldfish crackers even better than the stuff in the bag? Because I added a lot more Old Bay seasoning is why! I’m addicted to that stuff. I loaded my crackers up big time. Heck yeah, they were finger-licking good! I didn’t let any of the seasoning go to waste, that’s for sure.
Get Your Crunch On
Just a little note. These crackers come out of the oven still a bit soft. Good, but not quite crunchy. They will be. Just let them cool a bit. Resist eating them and let them cool. Or don’t resist.
This cheesy chicken fajita melt was a huge hit in our house. Huge. The chicken, vegetable and cheese filling is incredibly tasty. The chicken is tender and juicy and packed with classic fajita flavor. Oh, yes, there’s cheese. And lots of it. This is one fantastic sandwich. We made it on the griddle on our grill, but you can use a countertop griddle, an outdoor griddle such as ones from Blackstone or Weber, or even a large skillet. No matter what you use, you’ll love the end result for sure!
More Seasoning Makes These More Better
Don’t be shy with the fajita seasoning when you make this cheesy chicken fajita melt. Get to shaking that bottle. You’ll be happy you did. You want the chicken to have that fajita flavor. You want the vegetables to have that fajita flavor. And yep, get some on top of the cheese too. Last thing you want to have happen is that you take a big ole bit of sandwich only to ask yourself “Where’s the fajita?”.
These are not light fare. You’re not going to the leave the table hungry after devouring these sandwiches. That’s for sure!
Season the thighs with the fajita seasoning. Don't be shy with the seasoning. Let the chicken set for 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
Preheat a griddle or large cast iron skillet over high heat. I used a large griddle on my gas grill, but a flat top griddle, Griddler or the like will work just fine. You'll want a large surface as this recipe makes a large batch.
Also preheat your oven to 400 F. Note: Since I was using a griddle on a gas grill, I used the grill as my oven instead.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the griddle. Add the thighs and cook for 4 minutes per side until lightly charred and cooked to 165 F.
Remove the chicken to a platter to cool slightly then cut into small cubes.
Add remaining butter to the griddle and add the onions and peppers. Cook until lightly softened and charred, stirring often.
Add the chicken to the vegetables. Season with more fajita seasoning and stir to combine.
Add half of the cheese and mix until melted. Remove to a plate or bowl.
Slice off the top of the bread loaves and remove most of the contents. You want a completely hollowed loaves, but be careful to not poke any holes in the sides or bottoms!
Top with the remaining cheese and sprinkle with more fajita seasoning. Transfer to the oven (or a hot grill over indirect heat) and toast for 10 minutes or until the bread is lightly toasted and the cheese is melted. If you want a little color to your cheese, place the loaves under the broiler for a minute or two.
Top with chopped fresh cilantro and Mexican crema and serve!
Notes
You can substitute shredded Monterey Jack or pepper jack for the cheese.
Very few things go together as great as guacamole, bacon, cheese, onion and a burger. These bacon guacamole smash burgers are a real winner in our house. I love the coolness from the guacamole on a hot-off-the-grill patty. Smoky bacon is always a great addition. Ooey, gooey cheese is a must. A little onion adds a great crunchiness. Every bite is fantastic.
Good Guacamole Makes For A Great Burger
I don’t skimp on the guacamole when I make bacon guacamole smash burgers. Sometimes I’ll use a spicier guac for a little kick. But normal, good-ole mild guacamole is fine too. If you’re looking for heat, you can also add a good pepper jack cheese. Jalapeno jack is a real winner, too.
Delicious Hot Juiciness
I like to serve these burgers as soon as they come off the grill. I love the cool guacamole on the hot patty. Oh, I already said that. Well, I’d apologize for repeating myself but I was remembering just how great every bite was as I was writing this.
The equipment
Here’s the equipment I use. You can get by using two cast iron skillets. Use a larger skillet for cooking the burgers, and a smaller one to smash the burgers and keep them flat. Since I’m a cooking gadget collector, I prefer to use a few more tools.
The griddle
First, a griddle. You can buy griddles that sit on top of your grill grates or ones that replace them. Just about every grill I have has a griddle on it. I use them for a lot of things, not just smash burgers. You want one that can be placed over the hottest part of your grill so it gets screaming hot.
Next, you need a burger press. You can use a heavy cast iron skillet, like I mentioned. Or get a burger press. For easy cleanup I wrap mine in foil first. When I’m done, just peel off the foil and toss. Super easy. Get a press that’s at least big enough to cover two burgers. You only smash one at a time, but if you want to keep them flat, you want to rest the press on top so bigger (and heavier) is better. Plus I’ve found that a bigger, heavier press tends to stay on the burgers whereas a smaller, lighter one is hard to keep centered on the burgers, especially if you have a bunch of them cooking at once.
Next up, a dome. While not 100% required, it does speed the time it takes to melt the cheese and it does it in a nice even fashion. In my opinion you don’t really need one if you’re using a super melty cheese, such as American, but for thicker slices like say a deli pepper jack, you want the cheese to melt before you over-cook the burger and that’s where a dome comes in handy.
Lastly, you need something to clean your griddle. I like to clean mine when I’m done cooking, but you can do it at the start instead. I use one of these pad holders with a griddle cleaning pad. I add a bit of water to my griddle then use the pad (connected to the holder) to scrub off any big chunks and get up some of the grease. I don’t go crazy with it, I always heat the heck out of my griddle before cooking, but I get the worst. The long arm on the pad holder makes it perfect for scrubbing a hot griddle, too.
In small bowl, stir together the salad dressing, hot sauce and jalapenos.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the smash burgers
Fire up your grill for high heat. Place a griddle or a large cast iron pan over the highest heat.
Season the ground beef and form into four 4 ounce balls (not patties!).
Place the balls of beef on the griddle and let cook for one minute. Just let them cook, don't mess with them.
Take your press and flatten out the patties. I like to use the point of the press and work my way around the ball first, doing a little section at a time and then finally I press down on the entire patty to flatten it out. You can also just flatten out the ball all at once. At this point I also like to season the patties some more.
Let the patties cook until you start to notice a little char along the edges. Flip, season again if desired, and continue cooking another minute or so until the other side is charred. The burgers are thin so they will cook very quickly so watch out.
Add the cheese slices. If desired, cover in a dome to help the cheese melt.
Toast the buns. Remove, add the patties and serve topped with two pieces of the bacon and 2 tablespoons each of the guacamole. Add the onion and tomato if using.
Devour immediately.
Notes
Scoop up any guacamole that drips off your burger onto your plate with tortilla chips!
The Char-Broil Big Easy is great for cooking just about everything. Don’t overlook the side dishes. It’s great for those, too! Here are some of my favorites!
1
Spicy Barbecue-and-Bacon Baked Beans on the Char-Broil Big Easy
Use a hickory BBQ sauce to add a bit of that outdoorsy flavor.
Absolutely fantastic baked potatoes. I prefer to use disposable mini-meatloaf pans for this recipe. They fit into the Big Easy perfectly and are easy to handle. If you heat more than two mini pans at a time you'll need a Bunk Bed basket.
This roasted cauliflower came out absolutely delicious. Tender and flavor-packed, with just a hint of smokiness from the bacon. And as with anything I cook on my Big Easy, it was easy to make.
I used smaller baby portabella mushrooms but you can use any mushrooms you wish, even mixing up types when you make herb roasted mushrooms on the Char-Broil Big Easy. Just keep in mind that larger mushrooms or mushrooms with thicker caps might take a bit longer to cook.
Woo hoo! French fries on the Char-Broil Big Easy! Crispy, hot French fries! Perfection in a pan, and ready in only minutes. Don’t want to heat up the house with the oven making fries during the warmer months? Just toss some (frozen) fries into the Big Easy!
I can eat a scary amount of crab legs. Fortunately, I don’t have to tell you just how much a ‘scary amount’ is, but when the crab legs are as great as these Old Bay crab legs cooked on my Char-Broil Big Easy, I cannot control myself.
Honey-Chipotle Glazed Ham on the Char-Broil Big Easy
I’m a big fan of cooking honey-chipotle glazed ham on the Char-Broil Big Easy. The ham gets a nice roasted flavor, a bit of a crispy outside, and a super-moist inside.
I could’ve fired up my gas grill to cook a batch of hot dogs. Or lit some charcoal. That’s when I had a ‘duh’ moment. The Big Easy! It cooks everything great, so why not use it!
These Kick’N chicken legs on the Char-Broil Big Easy came out fantastic, just like all the other poultry I’ve ever cooked on the Big Easy. Super moist and tender.
Cooking a pork butt on the Big Easy was not only easy and quick (compared to a 10-12 hour cook time on my smoker), but the end product came out super moist and tender. The meat shreds very easily, perfect for BBQ sandwiches or my favorite, BBQ pulled pork baked potatoes.
I’d make these ribs again. And again. You can fit 2 racks into the Big Easy (they have to be cut to fit as they have to be around 11″ or so or less in length).
Beer-Can Seasoned Chicken on the Char-Broil Big Easy
The seasoning is so good you can leave out the beer can. The Big Easy cooks up chicken so moist and tender you won’t notice it’s not there, and the Weber seasoning packs such great flavor you’ll be as happy as if you did use the beer.
Deliciously sweet pineapple, brushed with coconut milk and sprinkled with cinnamon-infused sugar. Roasted to perfection. Brazilian pineapple on the Char-Broil Big Easy is a win.
“They’re too darned spicy”, Aunt Martha said. Well, today is Aunt Martha’s lucky today because now she can chow down on some super-tasty pickle poppers without worrying about the heat.
The key to cooking bacon-wrapped tater tots on the Char-Broil Big Easy is to cook them until they just start to char. They won’t be super crispy yet. That happens after you take them out of the cooker and they cool. The bacon will crisp up as it sits.
Well, that was embarrassing. I’m guessing that these slow cooker Ranch corn chips were supposed to last at least a few hours. Heck, it says ‘makes 12 servings’ in the recipe. So much for that idea. They’re just a little too good to sit around. They didn’t last long and I’d be tempted to say it’s more like 4 servings…. or 2. Packed with Ranch flavor, you can’t beat this simple snack recipe. The fact that I’m addicted to Ranch flavors didn’t help me with my self-control. Again.
The Search For Corn Chip Perfection
The recipe for slow cooker Ranch corn chips calls for a single 9.75 ounce bag of chips. I found that our bag had about a cup of crumbs at the bottom. You can’t use those in this recipe. I recommend that you grab 2 bags and sort through them, only using the best chips you find. Save the crumbs to grind and thicken chili. Or sprinkle them on top of salads in lieu of croutons or bacon.
I would point out that the recipe does say to let the chips cool before serving. You’re probably going to find that difficult to do. “The waiting is the hardest part” as Tom Petty once sang.
In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter and the dip seasoning.
Pour butter mixture over the chips, gently stirring them with a spatula as you pour so they get covered.
Gently stir until the chips are well coated with the butter mixture.
Place chips in a slow cooker on high, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
Spread the chips out on a large piece of wax paper and let cool before serving.
Notes
You might need to grab 2 bags of chips so that you can get enough perfect chips to make a batch. Our bag had quite a few crumbs in it so we ended not being able to use a good cup worth of them.
Oh, how I do love perfectly battered, perfectly fried shrimp. As soon as I took my first bite of this copycat Outback Steakhouse Bloomin’ Fried Shrimp I knew I should’ve made more. And I should’ve doubled the sauce recipe, too. The shrimp are seasoned just right. They’re tender. The batter stays on and that’s a major plus. The dipping sauce is different. Kind of cocktail sauce-like, but mayonnaise-based. It’s quite good and would be great with fried fish or even on a fish sandwich. These are great shrimp.
The Perfect Combination
The key to making these copycat Outback Steakhouse Bloomin’ fried shrimp is to not over-cook them. For me, that means about 90 seconds. I use 16-20 count (large) shrimp. If you’re new to frying shrimp, I recommend starting with just one little ole shrimp. Fry it, and keep an eye on the time. When you think it’s done pull it out and try it (after cooling of course). If it’s too done, knock 15 seconds off the cook time and try another test shrimp. Not done enough? Add 15 seconds and try again.
The Presto Fry Daddy is perfect for making smaller batches of food. It only uses a few cups of oil and comes to temperature quickly. Clean-up is easy too!
Heat 3" of oil to 350 F in a deep fryer or Dutch oven.
In a pie plate or shallow bowl, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cayenne.
In another pie plate or shallow bowl, stir together the buttermilk and water.
Place a wire rack over a cookie sheet.
Coat the shrimp in the flour mixture and shake off any excess.
Roll the shrimp in the buttermilk and shake off any excess.
Return the shrimp to the flour mixture and coat again. Shake off any excess and transfer to the wire rack.
Working in batches if needed, fry the shrimp for 1-2 minutes (I prefer 1 minute and 30 seconds), turning once, until golden brown. Remove to another wire rack or a paper towel-lined plate.
