Hockey puck sliders station

With the excitement of the Stanley Cup Finals, you’re sure to have friends over to watch the games. Why not feed the crowd with your very own hockey puck sliders station?

Photo credit: suzyoliveira/iStock/360/Getty images

Before the game or during a period break, be sure to keep grumbling tummies away with delicious build-your-own sliders or larger burgers.

It’s simple to put together and allows everyone to pick their own toppings and enjoy a filling dinner. Serve it with crisps or fries, and everyone will feel like they’re out at a live game.

How to make your own sliders station

Blogger Tonya Staab of Create – Celebrate – Explore loves to make serve-yourself bars when she has lots of kids in the house. She’s also experimented with burger bars and says, “I like to keep things fairly simple with my food bars but still give quite a few options, especially for picky eaters.”

She recommends including these great items:

• A mix of beef and vegetarian burgers
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Grilled bacon
• Cheese
• Mushrooms
• Ketchup and mustard
• Variety of white and whole-wheat burger buns

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The best thing about a burger bar is that you can slice up the salad items ahead of time and lay out almost all of your needed items before guests arrive. Be sure to have a long serving table with plates, napkins, food trays, condiments, the buns and serving utensils ready to go. Then just pull out your pre-cut salad items when it’s time to eat. You can also grill your hamburgers ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven so that no one has to miss a minute of the hockey action!

The key to a great slider station is to have everything laid out and easy to reach, while a variety of items makes it fun for everyone to build burgers to their own tastes.

The “hockey pucks”

OK, so we’re taking a little bit of liberty here and renaming the humble hamburger a “hockey puck,” but really, if you’re grilling them on the barbecue, then the charcoal-black, round shapes will remind the keenest hockey fans of their beloved puck. If you want to get creative, press a large ring of white onion into one side of the hamburger to resemble the white graphic often seen on hockey pucks.

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Simple burger recipe

Serving size 8 hamburgers or 16 sliders

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Finely dice the onions and garlic, and sauté them in olive oil until they are translucent. Set them aside to cool slightly.
2. Place the beef, bread crumbs, salt and pepper into a large bowl.
3. Whisk the egg and mix it into the beef with the onion and garlic. Use your hands to combine the mixture, adding a little bit of water as you go to ensure it is coming together well.
4. Divide the mixture into portions, and shape into hamburgers.
5. Grill over medium heat for about 15 minutes (flipping halfway through), until the burgers are cooked to your preference.

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Photos reproduced with permission from Tonya Staab