I'm On a Roll!! - White Castle-esque Sliders

Since I am in the process of moving, or should I say "I am in a packing frenzy", as well as yard sale melodrama. (yea, I am having another one this weekend) I have been on the hunt for quick and simple recipes to prepare. When I saw my friend Spryte's blog post about these, I KNEW I had to make them.

My only White Castle experience has been from the frozen case at the local Mega Mart. Well, and that movie with Susan Sarandon and James Spader called "White Palace" in which the burger bar was loosely based on a White Castle, though be it very loosely. The movie really had nothing to do with the actual sliders themselves, though.

So it was with a very high level of anticipation, that I executed this delicious recipe. Luckily, I had made buttermilk yeasted rolls the night before (recipe forthcoming - cause I didn't take any pictures) so I was completely set to travel down the path of belly busting burger bliss.

Many thanks to Robin Sue from the Big Red Kitchen and Spryte from Spryte's Place for posting this recipe. They were awesome!! I will never purchase a box of frozen White Castles again...

I only made a half batch, because, well, it's only me and I can only eat so much beef before I get completely "Beefed" out. Luckily one of my friends was over helping me pack, so he was able to help me put a serious dent in the 12 burgers. I left out the pickles, because I didn't have any and I was not going to run to the store to replenish something that would get packed up and have to be drug to Oregon with me; especially since both my Dad and my brother Matt make AWESOME homemade pickles, so they would probably never get eaten anyway. I added a little Chipotle Powder to the seasoning, just to give em a little kick. ;)

White Castle-esque Sliders

1/4 cup dehydrated Chopped or Minced Onion flakes
1 lb ground Chuck- 80/20 (that is 20% fat content - although I think I will use 85/15 next time)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Chipotle Chili Powder
4 slices Sharp White Cheddar cheese (or 3 sliced cheddar and 1 slice provolone)
12 Yeasted Dinner Rolls (You can use store bought if you like)
optional - 12 Dill Pickle Chips

Evenly spread the onions on the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking pan.

Press the ground beef into the pan, on top of the onion flakes, making 1 one giant Hamburger patty; then sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and Chipotle Powder.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Use paper towels to soak up the grease on the top of the burger. (There is gonna be A LOT; I had to pour some out too)

Top with cheddar cheese, return to oven for 3 more minutes. (I only had 3 slices of Cheddar left, so I had to break into the Provolone) Incidentally, with all the onions, this would be awesome with blue cheese as well, just drop the Chipotle Powder.

Remove from oven, let set about 5 minutes.
Cut into 12 patties and place on sliced dinner rolls. (remember to scoop up some of the onion layer with spatula so it soaks into the bottom bun - YUM!).

Top with a pickle if you so desire.
Serve immediately.

Mangia!!
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