Commentary by Joe Drozda and Bob Bley
As we’ve said all along, America’s favorite food is named after an Englishman, John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich. The sandwich (food) has always led our survey of tailgating preferences and will be a hit with your homegating, too.
The most copied item on today’s restaurant menus is the slider. It seems like even upscale eateries offer some kind of slider. So let’s talk about making the most famous slider of all, the hamburger, right at home in your kitchen. You can do it and your guests will enjoy them during your Super Bowl party. We have studied how the most famous slider maker in the world, White Castle, does it and have adapted, through trial and error, the following recipe to allow you to make a hamburger slider that guests will crave. This is an improvement on the recipe we ran a couple of years ago.
Hamburger Sliders
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef 80 percent lean
12 slider buns by Pepperidge Farm or Sara Lee
2 cups diced onion
Dill pickle chips
Salt and pepper
French’s Brown Mustard
Preparation:
At least an hour ahead place the diced onions in a bowl, cover them with water, cover it and let them sit until needed. Use a pencil and ruler to line a sheet of parchment paper into a dozen three inch squares. Place the ground beef onto the parchment paper and take a second sheet and cover the meat. Roll the meat with a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness. You’ll need to trim the edges each time to put the excess meat back onto the top of the first layer/pattern. Using a large knife cut the meat into squares that match the pencil lines.
Place the meat, with parchment, onto a cookie sheet and place it into the freezer for 25-30 minutes. Take the meat out and punch five holes into each piece with the large end of a chopstick or drinking straw. Replace the punched patties on parchment back into the freezer for one hour or until frozen.
On a griddle or large frying pan spoon out the water soaked onions and heat them until slightly crispy. Remove the meat from the freezer and break off the patties. Place the patties on the onions and cook five to seven minutes. Salt and pepper the meat slightly. Separate the buns and place the bottom of the slider buns face down on top of the patties and then place the bun tops face down atop of the bottoms. The onion and steam will cook the patties so that you can use a spatula to pick up a burger, turn it over and place the top onto the onion side. Plate these sliders and add a pickle and mustard to each.
