Dan in the Kitchen -- Ranch Burgers

Yesterday, I made a batch of brioche buns with hamburgers in mind. But, they turned out to be small and biscuit-like, so I decided to eat them for breakfast instead, maybe slathered with a little jam or cherry butter. Problem is, there are a lot of buns, and I don't actually eat breakfast much. Dan doesn't either, unless it's a muffin or bagel. Hmm.

My main concern with using the brioche buns for burgers was that they wouldn't be sturdy enough to stand up to a thick, juicy patty. Dan thought they would work though, so...hello, Dan in the Kitchen #4! I'm always happy to stand aside and let someone else cook dinner.

These ranch burgers were inspired by one of the Ranch dressing commercials -- you know, the one where a woman is cooking dinner for her family and she decides to throw a packet of Ranch powder into a bowl of ground beef to give her burgers extra flavor. Seemed like a tasty idea, so we decided to give it a try.

Honestly? Couldn't really taste the Ranch. The burgers were juicy and meaty, but I think our beef to Ranch ratio was too skewed in favor of beef to taste anything other than cow. We'll have to try using two packets of Ranch next time. (Oh, and the buns held up just fine! They're sturdier than they look.)

Ranch Burgers

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb ground beef

- 1 to 2 packets Ranch dressing powder

- 2 brioche buns

Steps:

(1) Fire up your outdoor grill, or set your indoor grill to "high."

(2) In a large bowl, mix Ranch powder and ground beef until well mixed.

(3) Divide your ground beef into two portions, and shape them into patties.
** Note from Dan: Ground meat is really gross, and working with it by hand is not the greatest sensation. But, you have to suck it up and pack your patties firmly, or you'll end up with a crumbly burger.

(4) Grill your patties for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Resist the urge to flip constantly.
(5) Slice brioche buns in half, and lay them on the grill for about a minute.
(6) Slide your burgers onto your toasted buns.
(7) Eat hot, with all the fixings.