Sliders - Petite Réveillon
mini-burgers (a.k.a. sliders)? They’re a snap to make and can be made ahead and baked all at once.
Ingredients
- 1 slice of white bread
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) Worcestershire sauce
- 1 lb (500 g) medium ground beef, or a mix of beef and pork
- 1 tsp (5 mL) dried leaf thyme
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each of dried sage leaves, summer savoury and nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) table salt or celery salt
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground cloves (optional)
- 8 mini-burger or ciabatta buns
- TOPPING
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) homestyle or old-fashioned
- chili sauce
- 1 tsp (5 mL) mashed chipotles in adobe sauce (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) lightly packed arugula leaves
Preparation
Step 1
1 Slice crust from bread. Tear bread into tiny pieces. You should have about ¾ cup (175 mL). Place in a small bowl and stir in milk. Set aside for 5 minutes for bread to soak up milk. Pour off milk not soaked up by the bread.
2 Whisk egg with Worcestershire sauce in a wide bowl. Spread meat over egg mixture. Evenly sprinkle with thyme, sage, savoury, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Spread the soaked bread overtop. Gently stir together with a fork or your fingers. Remember, overworking toughens burgers.
3 Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4 If using mini-burger or ciabatta buns about 2½ inches (6 cm) wide, scoop up ¼ cup (60 mL) meat mixture for each slider. Roll into a loose ball. Place on parchment paper and gently press into a 3½-inch-wide (9-cm) patty, as they shrink as they cook. Smooth sides as best you can. Using your thumb, make a shallow indent in centre of burgers to prevent puffing during cooking. (If not baking right away, cover and refrigerate up to a day.)
5 Bake on the bottom shelf of oven until done as you like, from 5 to 6 minutes a side. (You can, of course, cook in an oiled pan over medium heat, but it requires using 2 pans and keeping an eye on them.)
6 For topping, blend chili sauce with chipotle adobe sauce. Taste and add more if you wish. This can be made days ahead and refrigerated.
7 To assemble, warm buns in the oven during the last 2 to 3 minutes while burgers are baking. Cover bottom of bun with a few pieces of arugula. Place warm burger on top, spoon on sauce and add the bun top.
Makes 8 petite burgers
ALTERNATE TOPPINGS
A cranberry chutney is also a perfect flavour match for these highly herbed burgers. Simply blend equal amounts of your favourite chutney with whole-berry cranberry sauce. Or for a fiery combo, stir a little hot garlic chili sauce into bottled homestyle chili sauce. Hot red pepper jelly also works well, as do slices of pickled hot red banana peppers or roasted red peppers.