Jalapeno Popper Sliders & Onion Rings

I'm on a slider kick.  Must be the few days of warm weather we've had.  I'm anxious to give the grill it's annual workout.

The California Ranch Sliders I made were a make-it-up-as-you-go dinner.  These I saw in the Rachael Ray magazine when I took The Girl to the salon to get her hair fixed, after the scissor incident.

This is the photo that lured me in.

I know, right!  

There was also another burger in the magazine that had onion rings on it.  I decided to make just the onions as a side to go with the jalapeno sliders.

I couldn't for the life of me find the onion ring recipe online, but it was pretty basic.  You soak your sliced onions in a mixture of buttermilk and sour cream.  Then you dunk them in flour mixed with salt, pepper and chopped chives.  I added paprika to the flour as well.  You dunk again in the buttermilk mix, then back into the flour.  Fry in about an inch of hot veggie oil for 4 or 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown.

I drained mine on paper towels and then kept them warm in the oven while we cooked up the burgers.

Click here for the Popper Slider recipe.  They were really tasty!  The burger meat itself is basic, but you mix up a cream cheese spread that has garlic and cilantro in it.  YUM!  Cheddar cheese goes on top of that while they're on the grill.

The garnish is sauteed sliced jalapenos.  Again, YUM!

Oh yeah, I added bacon to the burgers.  Because, it's bacon.  And bacon is good.

Here's the cute little burger on my plate: