One thing I quickly learned about Jason is that he loves mini burgers (aka “sliders”). So much so that he pretty much tries them at every restaurant that serves them. As we began to expand our home-cooked dinner repertoire, finding a great slider recipe was a must. I hopped on the Food Network website and found a recipe by Bobby Flay, for Sliders with Chipotle Mayonnaise. I figured that if anybody knew how to make a good burger, it would be Bobby (yes, we’re on a first name basis, aren’t you?). So we tried the recipe and they are absolutely to die for!

The recipe is great as-is, but I do have a few notes on how we do them in the amuhlou kitchen.

1. We are currently using a pre-made chipotle mayo because I couldn’t find chipotles in adobo the last time I needed them. If you can find it, it’s a pretty good swap (time-wise at least, not sure about cost).
2. If you are making the mayonnaise from scratch and have never used chipotles before, start out with 1/2 of one chipotle rather than the two chipotles the recipe suggests! Then taste and adjust. I used exactly what the recipe suggested the first time and ended up adding a lot of extra mayo.
3. I would strongly recommend that you do not cook these in a frying pan if at all possible. The amount of fat that can come off them is pretty high and quite frankly disturbing. We use a George Foreman grill and it works really well. I do think the 20% fat in the 80/20 ground beef does lend to the flavor though, so I wouldn’t switch.
4. Resist the urge to “doll up” your patties with other ingredients besides salt and pepper. I am known to put Worcestershire sauce in just about anything with beef, but these little guys really, really don’t need it. I promise!
5. Dent the middle of each patty with your thumb to prevent burger bulge. Also, season just the dented side with salt and pepper.
6. I have never, ever found what the recipe calls “mini burger buns.” We use dinner rolls and they work just as well–we just have to cut them in half ourselves.
7. I like my cheese a little melted, so I just add it to a couple sliders right when they come off the grill.

As you can see, in addition to making the sliders, I stopped to snap some pictures of the process. I’m finding that indoor photography is hard without proper lighting. It’s also hard because it increases the time it takes for the food to get into my belly! If you want to check out a slideshow of the photos from this recipe, I have them posted on my flickr photostream under the tag “sliders.”

If you like miniature burgers, you should definitely give these a try!