Beef Sliders with Scampi Fries

It's been a while since I posted a recipe - truth be told we've been doing up our house and moving our kitchen to a new, bigger home, so things have been challenging, but I finally found myself with a free weekend, and so had the chance to whip up a new burger recipe for the blog and get some photos taken.

This first recipe is a Hamburger Me! take on the classic slider. As 'slider' and 'mini burger' become interchangeable in foodie vernacular (something which angers me intensely), this is an opportunity for me to demonstrate what a slider traditionally is - i,e a thin piece of beef steamed through onions on a griddle. I cheated a bit and gave one side of the burger a sear, but that's the way I like 'em.

I was pondering the other day, as I crunched through a bag of Scampi Fries, as to how they would work on a burger - I imagined the umami from the scampi working really well with mellow beef, the sharp lemon adding a counterpoint, and the crunch from the super-crisp bites added great texture against a soft bun and meat - and then it hit me. They would be brilliant combined with a super-soft steamed slider.

I'm going to have to admit something. I'm addicted to Scampi Fries. You know, those super-salty, scampi and lemon flavoured snacks you get in the occasional old fashioned boozer. I used to regularly take a detour on my way home from work to swing past a particular corner shop just to pick up a bag, but dangerously I've now discovered Poundland are stocking them. And at £1 for 6 bags (3 x Scampi Fries, 3 x Bacon Fries) that makes them 17p a bag. Bargain.

So, onto the burgers.

What you need:

> Chuck mince (20%+ fat content) - split into 3oz / 85g burgers
> Warburtons white burger buns
> American or Monterey Jack cheese (something that melts quickly)
> Pack of Smith's Scampi Fries
> Diced onions
> Coarse sea salt

What you need to do:

Lay out your ingredients - once you start your burgers will be ready in 4 minutes.

Using a cast iron pan, or cast iron griddle, ramp up the heat until the pan starts to smoke. Sprinkle some sea salt onto the burger and press it into the pan.

Press a generous potion of diced onions into the top of your burger, making sure there are no gaps. Once you flip it, the burger will cook through the steam of these onions.

After two minutes, flip the burger and lay your slice of cheese on top of the seared side.

Place the top bun on top of the cheese, and the the bottom bun on top of that. Your cheese and top bun are going to steam together. Cover with a cloche and slosh a little bit of water under it to aid the steaming.

After 2 minutes, lift the cloche  and you'll see the cheese has melted and the onions are browning.
Remove the bottom bun and dress with crushed Scampi Fries. Use a burger lift to remove the rest of the burger, including the bed of onions, and place on top of the bottom bun.

Et voila - one super-soft slider with crunchy Scampi Fries. Enjoy.

I've pulled together a handy 'prep card' for you to refer to when making your own burgers.

Also, here it is on Vine.