Thursday, June 4, 2009

Almost White Castle Sliders

Mom used to have a cookbook called The Junk Food Cookbook by Lydia Saiger. In it was a recipe for a burger that approximated a fast food burger, complete with "special sauce" and reheating step to mimic that "heating-lamp taste!" As a child, I'd never seen heard of White Castle (none in New Hampshire), so I could barely imagine what a real "slider" tasted like. Now, I'm much older and wiser and experience has taught me that a Crave Sack of Real White Castle Sliders should only be consumed when one is too drunk to know better. I prefer the recipe from my childhood, if only because I can identify which part of the hamburger is meat and I can rest easy in the knowledge that "special sauce" is not a sinister mystery. Plus, my mom's rolls are much better. This version of the recipe comes from Recipezaar, modified by me to include what I remember.

--1 1/2 to 2 lbs Ground Chuck
--1 (4 tbsp) envelope Onion Soup Mix
--1 Egg
--1/2 tsp Black Pepper
--2 tbsp Water
--1/3 cup Breadcrumbs
--Dinner Rolls, sliced in half to make a hamburger bun (Mom's Dinner Rolls, here)
--American Cheese ("Plastic Cheese," as we used to call it)
--Dill Pickle
--1/2 cup Yellow Mustard
--1/2 cup Ketchup
--Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix ground chuck, onion soup mix, egg, black pepper, water, and bread crumbs. Press into an ungreased 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Prick with a fork, then bake for 10 minutes. Drain off juices if there's a lot of excess and allow to cool. Leave your oven on "Warm". Cut meat into 24 squares ("sliders"). Mix mustard and ketchup in a bowl, magically transforming it into "secret sauce". On the bottom bun, spread some secret sauce, then add a slice of dill pickle. Next, add a slider (it will be TINY, so you may choose to double up), a slice of American cheese, then the top bun. Wrap each slider individually in foil and put them in the warm oven for 5 minutes (or until you are ready to eat them).

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