I love the idea of grilling out.
But frankly, I’d rather not learn how to do it.
I once worked with a preacher who called this a “cultivated ignorance.” He said everyone who works at a church should have one such non-skill.
For him, it was the church sound system. He knew that if he figured out how to work it, he would be called upon to use it and fix it for every church event for the rest of his career.
I no longer work for a church, but the concept of the “cultivated ignorance” has stuck with me.
For a long time, mine included making coffee. I didn’t drink coffee, I reasoned, so there was no need for me to know how to make it. Besides, once you start making coffee, you will continue to make coffee until the day you die.
But then I started drinking coffee.
Currently, the two things I can’t operate in my home are the lawn mower and the grill.
(Yes, I am aware that I enjoy trimmed grass and grilled foods, so I don’t really even have a leg to stand on here.)
But for now, I am still cultivating this ignorance. (It is keeping me very busy.)
So when Zack was working this Fourth of July, I felt like we needed to have some sort of celebratory dinner.
But also? It was hot.
And also? I was tired.
I’d seen this idea for sliders online in several places.
I picked up a package of rolls, a box of corn dogs and a bag of french fries.
I thawed out a couple pounds of ground beef.
But by the evening, I had no energy to juggle a bunch of different times and temperatures. I decided to pop it all in the oven for the same time and temperature and hope for the best. Guess what? It totally worked.
A dinner I can make entirely in the oven, all at the same time? Yes, please.
I will definitely be using this trick the next time I want to make burgers for the family.
OVEN SLIDERS
Ingredients
1-2 pounds ground beef (1 pound will make sliders with thin patties, like a smashburger)
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 package of slider buns (I use Hawaiian rolls.)
Optional: sliced cheese, ketchup, mustard, minced onion, dill pickle slices
Directions
■ Mix hamburger meat with egg and seasonings. Spray bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Press meat mixture out evenly into the baking pan. Bake until meat is cooked through; I baked mine for the same time and temperature the fry package recommended, about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
■ While meat and fries bake, slice both slabs of buns in half horizontally. When meat is cooked through, cut the rectangle of meat in half short ways. Place each half of the meat on the bottom half of a section of the rolls. Add cheese and condiments as desired (mustard, ketchup, onion, and pickle if you want to replicate a fast food burger). Top with the second half of the rolls and cut sliders apart.
Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].
Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
