For His Master's Veneration: Chicken Little Stuffed Sliders

Back in prehistoric times, when I was in college, my nickname was Chicken Little. This being my birthday, Master instructed me to whip up a meal just for my tastes! Growing up in the Midwest, naturally I love the sliders from the little castle in white. Here is my take on those classics with a bit of a Juicy Lucy thrown in just for fun.

Bite sized burgers with a surprise in each. Step one make the best egg salad you ever had. Then bury some in each tiny burger on sweet buns! Such a treat and special for today no calories!

So lets start with the egg salad:

4 large hard boiled eggs

1 Tbs sweet pickle relish

2 Tbs mayonnaise

1 Tbs yellow mustard

1 tsp sugar

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ tsp salt + 1/8 tsp pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

2 slices bacon

½ cup shredded smoked Gouda

Directions:

Hard cook the eggs and shell them, set aside to cool. Countless ways to do this, experiment to find what works best for you.

Cut up the celery and grate the Gouda.

Any time you use a grater like this, spray it first with cooking spray to ease the clean-up.

Fry up the bacon, drain on paper towels and crumble it up.

Mix the bacon, celery, cheese, and sweet pickle relish in a large bowl.

Add the mayonnaise, and mustard, then the salt & pepper and garlic powder. Taste test to adjust seasonings.

Chop up the hard cooked eggs and fold them into the mixture.

Again, taste test. Cover and place in refrigerator to blend seasonings.

Burgers:

2 lbs ground beef

1 tsp salt + ½ tsp pepper
1tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup grated onion
6 slices American cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with foil and spray.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and grated onion. Mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Let sit for 5 minutes on counter.

Spread out a sheet of parchment paper and a sheet of wax paper side by side.

Using the package of buns and a baking pan as a template, spread half of the meat onto the parchment paper, making the meat about 2 inches larger in each direction of the buns. It meat will shrink as it cooks. Lift it by the paper and ease it into the baking pan. With ends hanging over the pan. You will use these to lift the cooked meat out of the pan latter.

Now spread out the second half of the meat on the wax paper to same size as the meat in the pan.

With a teaspoon drop 12 spoonfuls of the egg salad onto the meat in the pan. Make them equal distance apart. Four rows of three. Just like the buns.

Now turn the wax paper over this on top and peal the paper back. With your hands press the meat together leaving these 12 pockets sealed with meat, pressing edges together.

Transfer the baking pan to the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. Check with a thermometer to read 150- 155 degrees. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and lay out slices of American cheese to cover the meat, return to oven for about 10 minutes until melted.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes, drain off any grease you can.

Open the buns and cut off the tops. Separate and lay out the bottoms on a platter.

Lift the huge burger by the paper ends carefully and place on cutting board. With a knife, cut into 12 pieces and lift them onto the bottoms. Cover with bun tops.

Slave baked some beans while that was cooking, so they rested along with the burgers. Use that time to microwave the mixed vegetables for a second side dish.