Truffled Beef Sliders #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is sharing burger recipes. Thanks to Stacy of Food Lust People Love, Sue of Palatable Pastime, Rebekah of Making Miracles, and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for coordinating this low-stress group. 

And, for this event, Mayuri is hosting. She invited us to celebrate National Hamburger Month with her. Here's the line-up of our burgers from the #SundayFunday bloggers...

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Hawaiian Burgers 
• Palatable Pastime: Queen City Burgers 
• Our Good Life: Mushroom Burgers with Chipotle Mayo 
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Truffled Beef Sliders 
• Food Lust People Love: Lamb Feta Mint Patties 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Smash Burgers 
• Sneha’s Recipe : Keto Coconut Flour Pancake & A Sandwich Burger 
• Dana’s Table: The Apple Pan’s Hickory Burger Sauce Copycat Recipe 
• Making Miracles: Mushroom Swiss Bacon Burgers 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Chickpea & Quinoa Burgers

Our Hamburger Parade

For years I have been taking part in an event called #BurgerMonth. In 2014, I shared a Bulgogi-Spiced Burger with Homemade Kimchi. In 2015, I found inspiration in the sea and made a hand-chopped salmon burger with cuttlefish buns. And last year, I went for an Indian-inspired burger and served a mixed lamb-beef patty: Kheema Aloo Burger with Fresh Mango Chutney...all photographed above. 

Recently I made Aussie Burgers with the Lot which are over-the-top burgers with barbeque sauce, eggs, bacon, pineapple, beets, and cheddar cheese. But I have also shared Moruno-Spiced Burgers, Teriyaki Sauce-Swabbed Venison Burgers with Grilled Pineapple and Sesame Onions, Sticky Hoisin Duck Burgers, and 'You Feta Be Kidding Me' Burger.

Truffled Beef Sliders

I am out of fresh truffles now. Boo. But when we get them, we use them on everything. And these sliders were amazing!

Years ago some friends and I decided to swap ground beef recipes at a dinner party, I asked my boys what we should make. We talked about spaghetti and meatballs. We looked for recipes from different continents and talked about some dishes we could make from the Middle Eat using ground beef.

But, in the end, they were swayed by an episode of The Great Food Truck Race when Spencer on the Go made truffle burgers. Luckily I had enough truffle left to add about 1 Tablespoon to our caramelized onions and to add one or two oil-slicked slice to the top of each burger. I added even more truffle goodness with a splash of truffle olive oil and we melted some truffle gouda on top of the burgers. Super yum! And we have been making these for years and years.

Ingredients serves 8

• 2 cups thinly sliced white onion
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used 1 cup shiitake and 1 cup brown crimini)
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh black truffle
• 16 thin slices of fresh truffle (that's 2 pieces to garnish each burger)
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil, separated
• 1/4 cup red wine (I used leftover Merlot)
• 1 teaspoon black truffle oil
• 2 pounds ground beef (prefer organic, grass-fed)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 Tablespoons shredded pecorino cheese
• freshly ground pepper
• mini buns (I used pretzel buns and gluten-free buns)
• truffle gouda cheese

Procedure

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place thin slices of truffle in a prep bowl and add 1 teaspoon olive oil. The truffle slices should be mostly submerge. Move truffles around as needed.

In a large mixing bowl, place the ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, and shredded cheese. Crack in some fresh black pepper. Blend the mixture well by hand and set aside.

In a large, flat pan, melt 1 Tablespoon butter in 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add the onions and fresh black truffle. Cook until the onions turn translucent and begin to caramelize. Stir in the mushrooms. Cook until everything is softened and beginning to caramelize. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to incorporate any of pieces that might be sticking to the bottom. Simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in black truffle oil. Take out 1/4 cup of the mixture and set the rest aside for topping the burgers.

Add the 1/4 cup mixture of the onions to the ground beef and mix in well.

Use a kitchen scale or simply divide meat into eight equal portions. Form them into patties that are slightly larger than the diameter of your slider buns. Press an indentation in the top of the patty and place it on a parchement-lined or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.

Place them in the 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. In the meantime, slice open the buns and slice the cheese. 

Place the buns on a baking sheet and place one or two slices of cheese on the bottom part. Once the burgers are done, place a burger on each bun and add another slice or two of cheese on top of the bun. Return the burgers to the oven.

Bake until the cheese is nice melted on the top of the burger, approximately 2 minutes.

To serve, place the burger on individual plates. Add a heap of the caramelized onion mixture. Top with one or two slices of oil-soaked truffle. Serve immediately.

That's a wrap on the #SundayFunday burger event. We'll back next week sharing ideas for Mothers' Day brunch. Stay tuned!