Sweet Potato Fries and Stuffed Burgers

Alrighty, this won't be too original or anything,  but it was yummy nonetheless.  And really, burgers are always a great food to make, especially if you have friends coming over.  I found the recipe for the fries  on Pinterest, and couldn't wait to try them.  I also created a couple sauces to go with the fries (and/or on the burgers).

Sweet Potato Oven-Fries
1 or 2 medium sweet potatoes
Bacon, cooked
~ 4 Tbsp Garlic Confit Oil (or olive oil)
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Paprika
Salt and Pepper

Peel the potatoes and slice them into french fries. Cut or break the bacon (depending on how crisp you've got it) into pieces.  Place the fries and bacon in a bowl, drizzle over the oil, and toss to coat; sprinkle over and mix in the spices.  Dump onto a large baking sheet and spread out into a single layer. Bake in a 425˚F oven for about 20 minutes until crisp/toasty.

Cheese-stuffed Hamburgers
1.5 lbs ground sirloin
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Cheese of your choice (we used babble and colby jack)

Slice the cheese to about 1.5 inches by 1 inch by a quarter inch.  Combine all ingredients except the cheese in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.  I recommend using your hands and just squishing it all together; you're going to need your hands to form the burgers, right?  Scoop out a burger-sized portion, then divide in half.  Place a piece of cheese in the center of one half; cover with the other half and flatten into a burger.  (Tip:  Make your burger wider and flatter than you want it to be; it'll contract and thicken as it cooks, and you don't want to have to squish out the juice to make it flatter while cooking.)  Grill or cook in a pan (or on a griddle, I suppose) over medium-high heat.

Spicy ketchup
1/4 C ketchup
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
dash crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients and allow to sit for an hour or so for flavor development.

Creamy Chive Dressing
1 Tbsp mayonaisse
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp snipped fresh chives
1 clove crushed garlic confit
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dash oregano

Combine all ingredients, cover, shake, and allow to sit in the refrigerator for an hour or so for flavor development.

I think my favorite part of this was the spicy ketchup, honestly.  It was so good, and the longer I let it sit, the better the flavor.  It was reminiscent of barbecue sauce in the end.  Tasty!   The chive sauce was a little bit like ranch.  It made a nice cooling contrast with the fries.  The burgers were yummy, too.  My fiancé cooked them, and he's great at that, so they were moist and had a nice crispness/char.  I had issues with the fries-- I did it in two batches and slightly burnt the first (larger) batch.  They were still good, but it struck me as a bit of a bummer.  I was concerned about repeating the mistake, so I erred the other way on the second batch, and they weren't so crisp.  The recipe was great.  I was just distracted and chatting with my friend, and wanted to give the fries a couple minutes more, and then someone asked, "hey what about the fries?" seven minutes later.  But it made for a great dinner, very casual, very fun.