Classic Sliders Recipe. Everyone is sure to love these mini sliders.
What Are They?
Small soft buns, cut in half and filled with a honey mayonnaise sauce, beef patty, cheddar cheese, tomato sauce with onion, and iceberg lettuce, served warm.
Time To Make
Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cooking: 20–25 minutes
Resting: 8 hours
Equipment
2 piping bags
Cookie cutter (4 cm diameter)
Tip
When making the patties, regularly dip your fingers in a bowl of water to stop the meat sticking.
Advice
To keep the salad crisp, store in the refrigerator covered with slightly moist paper towel.
Techniques to Master
Chopping finely – A herb: Hold the herbs in a tight bunch or pile up the leaves and roll them up, then slice as thinly as possible.
An onion or French shallot: Cut in half. Slice thinly lengthways with a sharp knife, without going all the way through at the root end, then do the same across the width. Slice into cubes.
Cutting in brunoise dice – 2 mm cubes
Glazing with beaten egg – Beat the egg. Dip in the pastry brush and drain off any excess. Brush the food before baking. During cooking, the egg will take on a golden colour and shiny appearance.
Knocking back – Crushing to remove the carbon dioxide after rising.
Rolling out – Gradually spreading out a pastry dough with a rolling pin, always working away from you. To obtain an even thickness, set a rolling rod of the desired thickness on either side and roll until the rolling pin is resting on the rods.
Organisation
2 weeks before | Make the buns and freeze uncooked.
1 day before | Thaw the buns in the refrigerator. Make the honey mayonnaise and the tomato sauce, then set aside in the refrigerator. Make and cook the patties, then refrigerate.
On the day | Rise and bake the buns. Make the salad. Reheat and assemble.
MAKES 20
BUN DOUGH
7 g fresh baker’s yeast, crumbled
100 g milk
40 g unsalted butter, softened
250 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour
20 g sugar
5 g salt
40 g egg (about 1 egg), plus 30 g extra for glazing
30 g sesame seeds
FILLING
400 g minced beef
olive oil, for frying
salt
¹⁄₄ iceberg lettuce
5 slices cheddar cheese
HONEY MAYONNAISE
1 egg yolk
20 g wholegrain mustard
30 g wildflower honey
salt and pepper
10 g apple-cider vinegar
150 g sunflower oil
1 red onion
2 low-salt cornichons
TOMATO SAUCE
1 brown onion
splash of extra-virgin olive oil
80 g tomato passata
2 g herbes de Provence
salt and pepper
1 Make the bun dough by following the method on page 28. Cut out using a cookie cutter, then scatter over the sesame seeds before baking.
2 Make the mayonnaise, adding the mustard and honey to the egg yolk at the beginning. Cut the red onion and cornichons in brunoise dice (2 mm cubes) and add to the mayonnaise. Set aside in the refrigerator.
3 To make the tomato sauce, cut the brown onion in brunoise dice. Sweat with a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the tomato passata and herbes de Provence, season to taste, then simmer for 5–8 minutes. Transfer to a container and cover with plastic wrap, with the plastic touching the surface, allow to cool, then set aside in the refrigerator.
4 Roll 20 g portions of the beef into balls, then flatten them with your palm. Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium–high heat. Working in batches, season the patties with salt on one side, then sear on the salted side for 2 minutes. Season the other side, turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes. They should be nicely browned. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Allow to cool, then store in the refrigerator.
5 Slice the lettuce in strips about 5 mm wide. Wash, then set aside in the refrigerator.
6 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the buns in half crossways.
7 Place a quarter slice of cheddar on each patty, then put in the oven for about 10 minutes. Put the buns in the oven after 5 minutes.
8 Add a dollop of mayonnaise on the bottom half of each bun, then top with a patty and the cheddar.
9 Add a dollop of tomato sauce and a few strips of lettuce. Put a dollop of mayonnaise on the top half of each bun and place on top, adding a cocktail skewer to hold them in place if necessary. Return the burgers to the oven for 5–10 minutes, then arrange on a platter, and serve hot, immediately.
MINI BUNS
HOW DOES THE DOUGH SWELL UP DURING COOKING?
There are three phenomena that make dough rise. The action of the yeast during the 30°C rise is a fermentation process that produces gas. Because the dough is viscous, this gas stays trapped and makes it swell up. Then, during cooking, the gases from fermentation dilate, taking up more volume and making the dough rise. Finally, the water in the dough will change from a liquid to a gaseous state.
ORGANISATION
1 month before | Make the dough, shape into buns, cook them and freeze them.
OR 2 weeks before | Make the dough, shape into buns, place them on a baking sheet and freeze.
1 hour before | Put the buns in the refrigerator to thaw, or even make the buns from scratch and refrigerate them uncooked.
On the day | Bake.
TECHNIQUES TO MASTER
Glazing with beaten egg – Beat the egg. Dip in the pastry brush and drain off any excess. Brush the food before baking. During cooking, the egg will take on a golden colour and shiny appearance.
Knocking back – Crushing to remove the carbon dioxide after rising.
Rolling out – Gradually spreading out a pastry dough with a rolling pin, always working away from you. To obtain an even thickness, set a rolling rod of the desired thickness on either side and roll until the rolling pin is resting on the rods.
Makes 460 G (FOR ABOUT 20 BUNS)
7 g fresh baker’s yeast, crumbled
100 g milk
70 g egg (about 2 eggs)
40 g unsalted butter, softened
250 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour
5 g salt
20 g sugar
1 Pour, in order, the baker’s yeast, milk, 40 g of the egg, and the butter, flour, salt and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix for a few minutes. Transfer the dough to a large, round-bottomed bowl, cover with plastic wrap (with the wrap touching the dough) then refrigerate for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. The dough will relax and undergo its first rise.
2 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knock it back by pressing on it lightly to remove the gas.
3 Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper. Lay two 4 mm rolling rods on either side of the dough and roll it out to an even thickness with a rolling pin. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4 Remove the top layer of baking paper and cut out 3 cm discs using a cookie cutter. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, spacing them out well.
5 Preheat the oven to 30°C, and place a heatproof bowl filled with boiling water in the oven. Spray the buns with water to prevent them drying out. Place them in the oven to rise for 1–1¹⁄₂ hours. If the minimum temperature of your oven is 50°C, leave the dough in a warm place to rise.
6 If they have been frozen, leave them to rise for a further 30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and remove the water bowl.
7 Increase the oven temperature to 180°C. Glaze the buns with the remaining egg. Bake for 15–20 minutes; they should still be very soft.
Mayonnaise
Makes 200 Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
20 g wholegrain mustard
10 g apple-cider vinegar
salt and pepper
150 g sunflower oil
1 Whisk the egg yolk, mustard, vinegar and some salt and pepper in a round-bottomed bowl.
2 Add the oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously, until all the oil is incorporated. Whisk vigorously for a few seconds to give the mayonnaise its thick texture.
This is an edited extract from The Ultimate Book of Party Food by Melanie Dupuis published by Hardie Grant Books RRP $60 AUD / $65.00 NZD and is available in stores nationally.
Photographer: © PIERRE JAVELLE
