Photograph by Grant Cornett Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero Prop Styling by Janine Iversen

Photograph by Grant Cornett Food Styling by Maggie Ruggiero Prop Styling by Janine Iversen

T-Rex and Led Zeppelin

Sexy Sliders

Amuse-Bouche from Issue 9 – Summer 2016 – The 1970s

Amidst the unbridled excess of the early ’70s rock scene Marc Bolan and Robert Plant loomed large. Those savage manes of curls, the feral swaggers, the wild outfits (glam cosmic dancer Bolan in leopard waistcoats and feather boas; self-anointed “golden god” Plant, in hip-gripping jeans, shirt flung open), made them a magnetic stage presence. “I am my own fantasy,” Bolan once said. And Plant’s magnetism often extended backstage. As he told Lisa Robinson in 1973: “Some nights I want to fuck the whole front row.” Just as “Stairway to Heaven” often marks an ending (at all my junior high dances, at least), our sliders—as over-the-top and beguiling as the rock gods who inspired them—mark a meal’s beginning.

makes 6 (or enough to feed a cache of groupies)

1 lb ground beef
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp vegetable oil
6 thin slices aged white cheddar
6 slider buns

1
Form meat into 6 (2½-inch wide) patties.
2
In a small bowl, stir together mustard, Worcestershire, paprika, and a few grinds of black pepper until combined. Dot with butter and set aside.
3
Heat a skillet with oil until hot over medium-high heat. Brown patties, about 2 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium then stir in 2 Tbsp water, swirling and scraping up any meaty bits. Add the sauce ingredients and swirl to melt butter.
4
Smash each patty into the simmering sauce and cook 1 minute. Lay a piece of cheese over each slider and cook covered, just until cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Transfer sliders to buns and spoon extra sauce over each.