Buffalo Sliders with Oaxaca Queso, Roasted Chile Poblano and Sweet Potato Shoe String Fries

If you like sliders then you will definitely enjoy these gourmet American bison sliders!
    
    Buffalo (American Bison) is a symbol of old west and they were nearly sent to extinction via an eradication program.  Buffalo now are free range herd animals that are raised on ranches.  There are a few Native American tribes out west that raise and market buffalo on tribal ground.
     Organic and drug free is what free range Buffalo meat is all about.  The meat is very lean and the buffalo burgers need to be cooked rare to medium rare or they will become very dry.  The flavor is milder than deer, yet stronger than beef.  I feel good, clean and strong after eating buffalo.  The sensation is healthier than the feeling that I get after eating modern drug raised and force fattened beef.    
     I really noticed the difference of how clean free range buffalo meat was while I was on chemotherapy a few years ago.  I became hypersensitive to all food additives.  One drink of alcohol would have killed me back then.  Having one diet soda, caused me to spend 3 days in a hospital.  I was supposed to be on a high protein diet and vegetables could not be digested due to the beneficial enzymes and bacteria in my digestive tract being wiped out by the strong medicine.  I ate lots of yogurt, baked chicken and beef.  I noticed that after eating chicken and beef I felt like crap, while on chemo.  Then a neighbor who was Shawnee Native American suggested free range buffalo and free range game birds for my hi protein protein diet, while on chemo.  I gave the wild game a try and I felt much better after eating my high protein meals.
     Now that I am no longer hypersensitive to food additives, I still occasionally enjoy a meal made with buffalo meat.  Buffalo may cost more than beef, but it is worth the price.  Buffalo does taste very nice!  
    

     Focaccia Dough Recipe: 

     If you have dough making experience, then this will be easy.  
     High gluten flour is best for this recipe, but bread flour can be used.  Pizza dough is focaccia dough or Italian bagette style bread dough.  No oil in the mixture will produce a dough that is like many Italian breads that are not enriched with fat or like a French baguette bread dough.  Many pizzeria chefs do not add oil to a pizza dough and that is correct pizza dough too.  
     Focaccia style doughs require enrichment with fat.  Olive oil is a fat!  Oil strengthens and elongates the gluten strands of the dough.  It only takes a very small amount of oil to produce a nice texture.  The elastic gluten strands give pizza dough the ability to be stretched and tossed in the air!
     Add 2 tablespoon of fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon of dry yeast to 16 ounces of tepid luke warm water in a mixing bowl.
     Place the mixing bowl in a luke warm place like on top of a warm oven, with a dry towel under the bowl.
     When the yeast activates, add 2 teaspoons of sugar to proof the yeast.
     Add about 2 cups of flour.
     Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt.
     Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.
     Stir the mixture with a spoon, till a very loose wet dough is formed.
     Start adding a little bit of flour at a time,while stirring, till a loose dough is formed.
     Add a little more flour at a time, while mixing with your fingers, till the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
     Note:  You will be able to feel when the dough is starting to get elastic.  It will stick to your hands when made correctly, but that will change after rising twice.
     Add flour, while hand mixing, till the dough can pull away from the sides of the bowl.
     Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with a dry towel.
     Set the bowl on top of an oven in a luke warm area, with a second towel underneath the bowl to protect the dough from too much heat.
     When the dough rises more than double, beat it down with your knuckles and gather the dough like a ball in the bowl.
     Cover the dough with a towel and let it rise again.
     When it rises the second time, beat the dough down and knead firmly with your hands for 1 minute.
     Place the dough on a floured counter top.
     Roll the dough into a large ball.
     Cut the dough ball in half into 2 easy portions that are easy to work with.
     Roll and tuck each dough portion with with your hands to make smooth dough balls.
     You can cover and refrigerate each dough ball for a few days or freeze the dough portions for later use.

   

     Focaccia Slider Rolls:

     To make focaccia slider buns with the focaccia dough, cut walnut size dough portions of the focaccia dough.
     Place the dough portions on a parchment paper lined baking pan and space them about 3" apart from each other.
     Brush the rolls with olive oil, then sprinkle sea salt and coarse back pepper on the dough portions.  (optional)
     Let the dough rise and proof.
     Bake the slider rolls in a 425 degree oven, till they become a very light tan color.

    
     Roasted Chile Poblano:
     Lightly brush 1 whole poblano pepper with vegetable oil.
     Place the poblano on a roasting pan.
     Roast the poblano in a 350 degree oven, till the skin turns black.
     Remove the stem from the pepper and split the pepper open.
     Peel the skin off of the poblano pepper, while rinsing under cold running water.  Remove the seeds and pulp too.
     Cut 3 thick strips of roasted poblano pepper and save the rest for another recipe.
     Set the poblano strips aside.

     Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries: 
     Very thinly slice 1 peeled sweet potato.
     Stack the thin slices and then cut the slices into long thin strips.
     Heat some vegetable frying oil in a high sided pot to 360 degrees.  The oil should be 5" deep.

     Fry the sweet potato shoestring fries, till they become crisp. 

     Use a fryer net to remove the fries from the hot oil.

     Place the fries on a dry towel to drain off any excess oil. 

     Sprinkle sea salt on the sweet potato shoestring fries.
     Keep the fries warm on a stove top.

     Buffalo Sliders with Oaxaca Queso and Roasted Chile Poblano:
     Cut 3 focaccia slider rolls in half.
     Brush the rolls with olive oil.
     Grill the tops and bottoms of the mini buns in a pan over medium/medium low heat, till they become toasted.
     Spread a small amount of mayonnaise on the slider buns.
     Place a small piece of lettuce and a thin slice of plum tomato on the bottom half of each of the slider rolls.
     Use a ring mold to form three mini buffalo slider patties that are about as wide as the slider rolls.  Each buffalo slider patty should weigh about 2 ounces.
     Season the buffalo slider patties with sea salt and black pepper.
     Heat cast iron griddle or skillet over medium heat.
     Add 1 small splash of belended olive oil.  (Buffalo is so lean that you must cook them with oil, butter or lard.)
     Cook the buffalo sliders half way and then flip them over.
     Immediately place small thin slices of Oaxaca Cheese on top of the sliders, so it will soften and melt as the meat finishes cooking.
     Cook the buffalo sliders, till they become rare to medium rare.
     Set the buffalo sliders on top of the lettuce and tomato slices on the slider rolls.
     Curl each of the roasted poblano strips and place one roasted poblano strip on top of each slider.
     Set the sliders on a plate and lean the slider roll tops against the buffalo sliders.
     Set a bed of lettuce on the plate and mound a pile of crispy sweet potato shoe string fries on the lettuce.
   
     These buffalo sliders are some of the best tasting sliders that I have ever tasted!  The Queso Oaxaca has an interesting fresh cheese flavor and the roasted poblano adds a rich mild green chile pepper flavor.  The buffalo sliders in the pictures were cooked rare.  Yum!  ...   Shawna