Venison burgers! A favorite recipe from the homestead

This week's #homesteadingchallenge sponsored by @kiaraantonoviche is to share your favorite recipe from your homestead.

I don't know if I get any more homestead-y than deer burgers made from venison shot a couple hundred yards away and processed right here by the handsome Husband and the cutie pie Pixie....

....served on sandwich buns homemade by Momma....

And I don't get any more favorite-y than a super easy meal that my two picky-pick children will gobble up. Venison is something they've heartily approved of since they were babies--and as a result, they don't like ground beef! (When they were just beginning to talk, they said "dee-mee" for "deer meat." It was sooo cute!)

For the venison burger, I stick with super simple:
1 pound ground venison
~1 T Worchestershire sauce
~1 tsp hot pepper sauce
Fresh ground salt and pepper
Maybe a little garlic powder (though I left it out this week and the Husband, not knowing that, told me they were the best burgers we've ever made, lol)

Mix all together, form 4 patties, and grill till cooked through. You can pan fry them too, but grilled is so much better.

The kids get their patties on little plates because they prefer their "dee-mee" bunless

As for the buns, I use Belle's Hamburger Buns from Allrecipes.com, but I make the dough in the bread machine instead.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast (Same as 2 and 1/4 teaspoons, and I use bread machine/quick yeast)

1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS
I skip step 1 and 2 of the original recipe. Instead, I put all ingredients except the egg yolk and 1 T water into the bread machine and set it on the Quick Dough cycle. I take it out before the final "rise" stage (right when it finishes kneading) and pick up at the end of step 2, here: Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3 - Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions (The recipe says they should be a little larger than a golf ball, but mine are like 2x the size of a golf ball). Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. You may want to oil your hand first. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes.
4 - Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Position 2 oven racks so they are not too close to the top or bottom of the oven.
5 - Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

Some random notes on what I do different:

• I make the dough balls, throw a cloth over them and turn on the oven because my particular oven takes 15-20 minutes to preheat to 400.
• Right when the oven finishes heating up, that's actually when I flatten the dough balls, brush with egg yolk, and then sprinkle sesame seeds on them. I made another batch today and sprinkled poppy seeds on some.
• I ignore the whole part about 2 oven racks because I don't care if the rolls bake together, so I cram them all on one baking sheet instead of using 2 sheets.

And since I forgot the "Steemit proof" photo when we made burgers the other night, here it is today!

ENJOY!! And as always, thank you for reading! :)