Sliders!

Sliders are those delicious tiny hamburgers that have enjoyed a vogue in the past year or two. And although they've appeared at all sorts of groovy venues we all have to acknowlege that the progenitor of the craze is scary old White Castle, who continued to sell tiny, cheap burgers and never went out of business even when those bigger, meatier and messier hamburgers ruled the fast food scene for decades.

I made sliders the other night. I'd been given a recipe from Bon Appetit but I have to say that it all just seemed too fancy. It asked for a nifty homemade tomato sauce and suggested that leafy greens get tucked into the tiny bun. As if! So I cruised around online and found a resource that indicated that the secret to making a true White Castle burger is to add unorthodox ingredients such as reconstituted dried onion flakes, beef bouillon, and a jar or two of pureed beef baby food. What we're allegedly after, apparently, is the ensuing cooking stench. Legend has it that while frying a true White Burger has an ungodly smell, a rank, vile aroma that can easily trigger gag reflexes. So, you know, I bailed on that whole project, too. Stinking up the kitchen on purpose just seems a wee bit declasse. Instead, I came up with a home version of the greasy spoon slider by combining key elements from all sources.

1. I used the beef, veal, pork combo suggested by Bon Appetit. Also per their instructions, I threw in some grated Parmesan and an egg.

2. I figured onion was extemely important to the whole diner aspect of the project so for approximately a pound and a half of meat I chopped and sauteed (in butter) a medium white onion and mixed it in.

3. I formed the patties into thin, square shapes, very much the way White Castle does. They cook almost instantly, even if you don't poke four holes in each burger with a straw (recommended by the same people adding baby food to their meat mix).

4. Fried them over high heat and set the miniature buns in the pan to warm and crisp up in the burger grease a bit.

Traditionally sliders come with one or two pickle slices on each burger, but we have some really good homemade green tomato relish right now (a gift), so that's what these little guys got topped with and it was a stroke of genius.

Tomorrow--I'll recreate the Molten Lava Chocolate Cake from Chili's Bar and Grill because fine dining continually inspires me!