Chicken Sliders - A Party Favorite..

I very much enjoy the free samples given away at the food stores. Those little treats taste so good that sometimes I get too tempted and buy them. But when I make the same dish at home it somehow it doesn't taste the same to me. Especially, burgers. I have tasted mini pieces of veggie and chicken burger patties in the stores and used to love the flavor and juicy texture. I buy them right away but when I try the same product at home, there is something missing. Probably its just my speculation, but there's some magic to the tiny bites given at the store. After several tries, I just gave up buying the patties and just enjoy the samples for a moment and leave the place.

I've never made burgers from scratch at home either as I'm a little intimidated in the process of making the burger patties. But when my brother-in-law made this awesome burger for New year 2011, I realized its not that intimidating and actually its quite fun to make burgers. He really made it with lot of passion giving attention to even minor ingredients and it was all worth it. It came out awesome and was a big hit in our party. The specialty is the unique stuffing insie the patties. It turned out to be very flavorful with a soft and juicy texture. Thanks to him for this delicious recipe! He mentioned that this recipe is a combination of two recipes, the “Inside Out Burger” and the “Jalapeno sliders” from Food Network's website and modified to give an Indian twist.

Ingredients

• 6 slices turkey bacon, cut into bite size pieces (you can substitue with green bell peppers)
• 8 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 2 pounds ground chicken or lamb
• 1 large Shallot, chopped fine
• 1.5 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 4 ounces Monterey pepper jack, cubed
• 12 mini burger buns
• 2 tablespoons olive
• 2 jalapenos sliced, for serving
• 1 cup creme fraiche or mayonaise
• 8-10 curry leaves, chopped fine

Procedure

• Place the bacon in a large saute pan and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat in the pan.
• Add the mushrooms and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Set the mushrooms aside to cool in a bowl.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, curry leaves, shallot, black pepper, salt, and Worcestershire. Separate the mixture into 10-12 equal portions. Divide each portion into 2 separate patties.
• Combine the cheese into the cooled mushrooms and bacon mixture. Take 1 patty and top with a few ounces of the filling.
• Place another patty on top and pinch around the edges to make sure that the filling is totally covered. Make the rest of the patties the same way.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Over medium-high heat, heat a large skillet with oil.
• Once hot, add the burgers and cook for 2 minutes per side. Place the pan into the oven and cook for 4 to 6 more minutes for medium burgers. Alternately, you could cook the burgers on the skillet itself for 7mins each side or till they are cooked.
• Lightly spread creme fraiche on both sides of buns. Place burgers in middle and pick it with a jalapeno.

You can enjoy these mini burgers as appetizers in any party.