Mini burgers, mighty taste

Sliders, those cute little bundles of beef and bread, are full of flavor and versatility.

By Janet Keeler, Times Food and Travel Editor
Published August 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Scott Keeler] Mini Sage Burgers with Gorgonzola are served on homemade brioche buns. Little burgers, often called sliders, are showing up on restaurant menus and incurrent food magazines.

Suddenly, sliders are everywhere.

The formerly greasy beef bundles are newly chic and ready for their closeup on the cover of September's Bon Appetit. This month's Gourmet features them on its pages, too, as does the new Williams-Sonoma catalog. Its nifty mini burger press is already sold out and won't be available again until next summer.

Domestic ground beef too pedestrian for you? Order a dozen mini Wagyu sliders from Dean & Deluca for a mere $50. That's www.deandeluca.com or toll-free 1-800-221-7714 if you should happen to win the lottery tonight.

Restaurants are getting into the act, too, from Splittsville at Tampa's Channelside to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in Pinellas Park, where a plate of sliders works as an appetizer to share or an entree all to yourself.

And, apparently, it wasn't the sliders with plantain chips that got Sara N. dumped from Top Chef recently. It was her attitude.

Quite a showing for a nosh whose roots are deep in the junk food genre. Can you say White Castle? The Castle's itsy-bitsy square burgers, sometimes called belly bombs, have satisfied many late-night munchers, but only in the handful of states that have the restaurants.

Floridians must get their guilty pleasure from the frozen food case, where six White Castle sliders with a dab of cheese are $3.89.

Yes, sliders are all the rage. And we can see why. They make good party treats that are especially amenable to experimentation. Consider serving them for this weekend's Labor Day gatherings.

Some variations to consider: a tiny crab cake, a single meatball smothered in red sauce or a mini burger draped in melted Gorgonzola, all on baby buns. Anything you like on a hamburger - guacamole, bacon, grilled onions - tastes good in two-, maybe three-bite miniature.

Slip-sliding away

Some think the meat is the matter of the slider, but we believe it's the bread that makes the difference. The roll should be small, for sure, so that the bread-to-burger ratio isn't out of whack. But it also needs to be soft, squishy even. A hard roll, even at the right size, won't mold around the insides and you risk losing it all when you take that first bite.

(That's the reason it's not good to pile a slider too high.)

We tested three rolls, plus made a batch of brioche dough and formed our own bite-sized burger rolls. When lined up on a plate, the homemade rolls made us feel like we'd just walked into a doll house dinner party. They were so cute and perfectly shrunk.

Making brioche dough is simple, especially if you have an aversion to kneading. The egg dough comes together in the mixer.

It does, however, take time. The dough has to rest and rise in the refrigerator overnight (or 12 hours) and needs some additional rising time before baking.

The results are worth the effort, but there are good substitutes if you don't have the time or inclination.

Small dinner rolls worked well, but look for versions that aren't too high.

We also liked King's Hawaiian sweet rolls, especially as a vehicle for Alton Brown's Mini Man Burgers. These burgers are seasoned liberally with salt and pepper, plus garlic and onion powder, and stand up to the sweetness of the soft roll.

The only roll we didn't like was a soft water roll, which was simply too big. There were at least two bites left after the burger was gone.

Here's the beef

If you want a near-White Castle experience, make the Mini Man Burgers and sprinkle with finely chopped white onion and a bit of American cheese.

To make the burgers, roll out the meat between two sheets of parchment paper and cut it in squares with a pizza cutter. The results are pretty authentic. (Yes, we know there are copycat recipes all over the Internet, but we just couldn't stomach cooking with a jar of strained beef baby food.)

For a more upscale slider, try Rachael Ray's sage burgers with Gorgonzola. Fresh sage leaves, Worcestershire sauce and shallots flavor the meat, and you'll be tempted to use the mixture for regular burgers. Delicious.

We tried Brown's technique of rolling out the meat and instead of cutting into squares, using a glass to make round burgers. The first efforts were too small, as the patties shrank in the skillet. A 4-inch glass did the trick on the next batch. Of course, you can always form them by hand.

After our tests were done, we wondered about lining a grill basket for fish with burgers and doing them on the grill. Then we worried about fish smell on the burgers. Maybe we'd have to buy another basket, for meat only.

Who thought the slider would invite such deep thought?

Times art critic Lennie Bennett contributed to this report. Janet K. Keeler can be reached at (727) 893-8586 or jkeeler@sptimes.com. Her recipe blog, Stir Crazy, is at blogs.tampabay.com/food.

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Mini Man Burgers

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound ground chuck

8 (3-inch) buns or rolls, split in half

2 to 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Heat a skillet on medium.

- Combine the onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the ground chuck in the middle of the pan. Cover the meat with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Roll meat with a rolling pin until it covers the surface of the pan; it should be very thin. Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the meat with the seasoning mixture. Fold the meat in half, from side to side, using the parchment paper. Use a pizza wheel to cut the meat into 8 even squares. (Or if you want round burgers, cut them out with a 3- to 4-inch-wide glass.

- Wrap the buns in foil and place in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, drizzle skillet with olive oil and let it heat for 15 seconds, then cook the burgers 2 to 3 minutes per side.

- Remove the buns from the oven. Spread a small amount of mayonnaise on each bun and top with the burger and any other condiments, as desired. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 burgers.

Source: Alton Brown, 2003

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Mini Beef and Sage Sliders With Gorgonzola

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

12 mini dinner rolls, split

Mayonnaise, to taste

2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced

3/4 pound Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
 

- In a medium bowl, combine the beef with the Worcestershire sauce, sage, shallot and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Divide into 4 equal pieces and form 3 sliders from each piece, 12 mini sliders total.

- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Cook sliders for 3 minutes on the first side and 1 to 2 minutes on the other side for medium. While burgers are cooking, toast buns in the oven.

- Spread small amount of mayonnaise on top and bottom of rolls. Top each bottom with some spinach, a slider and a few cheese crumbles. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese a bit, about 30 seconds, then set the bun tops in place.

Makes 12 burgers.

Source: Adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray, October 2006

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Mini Brioche Slider Rolls

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 120 degrees)

1 package dried yeast

3 tablespoons sugar

6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

4 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

- Combine the water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (If the bowl is cold, start with warmer water so it's at least 110 degrees when you add the yeast.) Mix with your hands and allow to stand for 5 minutes until the yeast and sugar dissolve. Add the eggs and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until well mixed.

- With the mixer on low speed, add 2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add 2 more cups of flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Still on low speed, add the soft butter in chunks and mix for 2 minutes, scraping down the beater, until well blended. With the mixer still running, sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.

- Switch the paddle attachment to a dough hook and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape the dough into a large buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or 12 hours.

- The next day, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and divide the dough into four large pieces. From each piece, you'll get about 8 rolls. Pull off pieces and roll into balls about 1 1/2 inches across. Place on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and set aside at room temperature to double in volume, about 1 hour.

- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. When the rolls have risen, brush the top of each with the egg wash and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden on top. Cool rolls on wire rack.

Makes about 32 slider rolls.

Source: Adapted from Barefoot in Paris by Ina Garten (Potter, 2004)

[Last modified August 28, 2007, 12:31:17]