Caprese Pheasant Sliders

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Prep Time: 20 min - Cook Time: 15 min

Twenty-twenty definitely wasn't the year for a normal summer, with Coronavirus restricting travel, leisure time and family gatherings ... we basically spent the summer in quarantine. Going to work, then coming home with nowhere to go and nothing to do. We had to find ways to entertain ourselves. Tami and I spent a lot of time cooking and tending to our small garden, but with summer winding down, some of our cooking will have to move from outside to inside. One of the more popular meals we cooked this summer, that the kids absolutely loved, where these Turkey and Chorizo sliders on Brioche buns. I wanted to do this meal as a homage to how we spent our summer, a kind of farewell to summer meal, so another sliders seemed like the perfect choice.

We planted several tomato plants in our small garden this year, most of them are now taller than me!! They are huge, healthy looking plants that keep putting on new growth, even into September. They haven't really produced a lot of tomatoes, which is probably a good thing ... because my tomato cages and tie up stakes are pitiful and doing a terrible job of holding these plants upright! I'm guessing we should have trimmed them back more. While we didn't end up with a ton of tomatoes this year, we did get enough to make some tomato soup, homemade spaghetti and my wife's California style salsa. By the look of them, we'll have another crop soon, because these plants are still putting on baby tomato's.


I've been trying to start a flower bed under one of my windows in the backyard, I haven't had much luck with it. That side of the house only gets a tiny amount of sun mid-morning. I've planted it and planted it and planted it, but nothing seems to thrive there. I recently found a 2-foot by 4-foot standing planter and placed it under that window. My wife planted it full of Basil, Parsley and some other herbs ... it has really taken off! The Basil especially has gone crazy, which is good, because we love making homemade Pesto, but there's only so much Pesto you can make!

I thought I'd take these summer memories and turn them into a meal for Gundog Central. After spending my summer babying to these tomato plants and tending to this herb garden, it seems only fitting to incorporate them into this meal. After harvesting them, this Caprese Pheasant Sliders seems like the perfect meal to make with them. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.


 

Ingredients



Garlic Aioli


  2 Eggs
  2 clove(s) Garlic
  1 whole Lemon
  1/2 cup(s) Grapeseed Oil
  1/2 cup(s) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
   Salt

Italian seasoning


  2 tsp Oregano
  2 tsp Dried Parsley
  1 tsp Dried Basil
  1 tsp Marjoram
  1 tsp Dried Thyme
  1/2 tsp Rosemary, Crushed

Caprese Pheasant Sliders


  1 lbs Ground Pheasant meat
  1/2 lbs Ground Beef ( 80/20)
  1 Shallot, diced
  3 clove(s) Garlic, chopped
  1 Package Brioche Slider buns
  1 Small Tomato, sliced
  2 cup(s) Fresh Basil leaves
  1 Package of Mozzarella cheese
  1 cup(s) Balsamic vinegar
   Italian seasoning
   Salt and Pepper


Instructions


Garlic Aioli


Step #1 To make Aioli, cover a saucepan with a kitchen towel and set a mixing bowl over top of it. The towel will help hold the bowl in place while you whisk your eggs.




Step #2 Crack open your eggs and separate the egg white from the egg yolk. Add the egg yolk and salt to your mixing bowl then grate your cloves of garlic into bowl.



Step #3 Whisk ingredients together while very, very slowing pouring in your Grapeseed oil. Once you've poured all the Grapeseed Oil in and it has started to thicken, then started drizzling in the olive oil, again very slowly.



Step #4 Once everything is combined, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and whisk a few more times. Taste and add additional salt if needed.




For Italian Seasoning


Step #1 Combine Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Marjoram, Thyme and Rosemary in a small bowl or jar.




For Burgers


Step #1 Dice up one shallot and 3 garlic cloves, then add to large mixing bowl.



Step #2 Chop some parsleys leaves and add to large mixing bowl.




Step #3 Add ground pheasant and ground beef to mixing bowl. Sprinkle in Salt, Pepper, then add all your Italian Seasoning. Using your hands combine all the ingredients.



Step #4 When everything is mixed together. Divide out into 6 equal portions, 1/4 pound each. Roll each into a ball.



Step #5 Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add one tablespoon of Olive to skillet. Season the outside of each patty with generous amounts of salt and pepper, then place in hot skillet. Pressing down with spatula until flatten and the size is slightly bigger than the size of your slider buns, the patties as they will shrink as they cook.



Step #6 Cook on one side for 4 to 5 minutes before flipping. It should form a nice crust on the burger.




Step #7 Right before the burgers are done, add a thick slice of mozzarella cheese to each patty. Remove when the internal temperature is roughly 160 degrees and allow to rest 10 to 15 minutes



Step #8 While your burgers rest, add a cup of balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pot on medium heat and allow it to reach a simmer before reducing heat to low. Allow to simmer until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. It should be a thick enough that it will coat the back of a spoon.



Step #9 Take garlic Aioli and spread a layer on each of your slider buns. Place in the oven, with broiler set on high for a few minutes until buns start to toast. Do not walk away and check on them often. They'll go from almost done to burnt in no time.



Step #10 To prepare your burgers, add patties to each bun base, top with a slice of Tomato and fresh Basil leaves, then drizzle Balsamic Vinegar reduction over top of the Basil, top with bun and .. enjoy.




Recipe Card

Caprese Pheasant Sliders

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Prep Time: 20 min - Cook Time: 15 min



Ingredients



Garlic Aioli


2 Eggs
2 clove(s) Garlic
1 whole Lemon
1/2 cup(s) Grapeseed Oil
1/2 cup(s) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt

Italian seasoning


2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Marjoram
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Rosemary, Crushed

Caprese Pheasant Sliders


1 lbs Ground Pheasant meat
1/2 lbs Ground Beef ( 80/20)
1 Shallot, diced
3 clove(s) Garlic, chopped
1 Package Brioche Slider buns
1 Small Tomato, sliced
2 cup(s) Fresh Basil leaves
1 Package of Mozzarella cheese
1 cup(s) Balsamic vinegar
Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper


Instructions



Garlic Aioli


Step #1 - To make Aioli, cover a saucepan with a kitchen towel and set a mixing bowl over top of it. The towel will help hold the bowl in place while you whisk your eggs.
Step #2 - Crack open your eggs and separate the egg white from the egg yolk. Add the egg yolk and salt to your mixing bowl then grate your cloves of garlic into bowl.
Step #3 - Whisk ingredients together while very, very slowing pouring in your Grapeseed oil. Once you've poured all the Grapeseed Oil in and it has started to thicken, then started drizzling in the olive oil, again very slowly.
Step #4 - Once everything is combined, squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and whisk a few more times. Taste and add additional salt if needed.

For Italian Seasoning


Step #1 - Combine Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Marjoram, Thyme and Rosemary in a small bowl or jar.

For Burgers


Step #1 - Dice up one shallot and 3 garlic cloves, then add to large mixing bowl.
Step #2 - Chop some parsleys leaves and add to large mixing bowl.
Step #3 - Add ground pheasant and ground beef to mixing bowl. Sprinkle in Salt, Pepper, then add all your Italian Seasoning. Using your hands combine all the ingredients.
Step #4 - When everything is mixed together. Divide out into 6 equal portions, 1/4 pound each. Roll each into a ball.
Step #5 - Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add one tablespoon of Olive to skillet. Season the outside of each patty with generous amounts of salt and pepper, then place in hot skillet. Pressing down with spatula until flatten and the size is slightly bigger than the size of your slider buns, the patties as they will shrink as they cook.
Step #6 - Cook on one side for 4 to 5 minutes before flipping. It should form a nice crust on the burger.
Step #7 - Right before the burgers are done, add a thick slice of mozzarella cheese to each patty. Remove when the internal temperature is roughly 160 degrees and allow to rest 10 to 15 minutes
Step #8 - While your burgers rest, add a cup of balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pot on medium heat and allow it to reach a simmer before reducing heat to low. Allow to simmer until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. It should be a thick enough that it will coat the back of a spoon.
Step #9 - Take garlic Aioli and spread a layer on each of your slider buns. Place in the oven, with broiler set on high for a few minutes until buns start to toast. Do not walk away and check on them often. They'll go from almost done to burnt in no time.
Step #10 - To prepare your burgers, add patties to each bun base, top with a slice of Tomato and fresh Basil leaves, then drizzle Balsamic Vinegar reduction over top of the Basil, top with bun and .. enjoy.


About the Author

Jeff Davis
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You may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.

 


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