Brie Sliders

There are nights when  you can't wait to go out after work; share a nice meal with friends and have a couple drinks to wash it all down is one of the best ways I know how to spend an evening. There are other nights though, when you can't wait to get back to your apartment and pull on some fleece pajama pants, throw on a movie and just veg out. Sometimes those nights call for food to be delivered to your door but my preference is always for a home cooked meal. Something that is easy, not a lot of fuss, and finger food that doesn't require utensils. (Dishes are not my favorite thing in the world.)

A favorite finger food of mine... sliders. When made at home they can be customized to your taste and flavor preference of the day. I've made mexican-flavored sliders with chipotle sour cream, cheddar cheese and jalepenos; my korean-flavored sliders have bulgogi glazed patties and kimchi (to be posted later). On this particular day I had an intense craving for Brie so french style sliders came to mind.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (80-20 fat ratio)
6 mini brioche buns
6 oz. Brie cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup arugula
6 cloves garlic confit
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

Mix the ground beef with the mustard, salt, pepper, thyme, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Divide the meat into six portions to ensure relatively similar sized patties. Form the meat into round patties; they should not be too thin and larger than the bun. They will shrink as they cook.

Heat a skillet with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot place the patties into the pan and allow them to cook for 3-4 minutes an each side.

As the patties are cooking, start to assembly your buns with the condiments. Mix the ketchup and the Sriracha together and smear on the bottom half of each bun. Place arugula on top of the spicy ketchup. Spread the garlic confit on the top half of each bun.

During the last minute of cooking on the second side, place 1 ounce of Brie on each patty and cover the pan. This will melt the cheese. Place the slider patty over of the arugula, allowing it to wilt slightly and enjoy!

The Spotted Pig

There are many famous restaurants in New York City. The best chefs hope to work in the 'big apple' at some point or other and the lucky few end up with a successful restaurants in  Manhattan. Word of mouth used to be how a restaurant became known to the public, but nowadays there's the Internet, magazines, television, and movies to provide publicity and this next restaurant is no exception. Co-owned by Jay-Z and Bono, frequented by Drew Barrymore, Spike Jonze, and Beyonce, given the stamp of approval from Anthony Bourdain, The Spotted Pig is no stranger to being in the spotlight.

I was lucky enough to have lunch with a few friends in town for a visit. They don't take reservations so you'll just have to suck it up and wait for a table. They have a great selection of beers to keep you and your friends occupied during the wait. We happened to coming around two in the afternoon so we didn't have any trouble getting a table.

My friend, Danny, had the renowned roquefort burger. He simply put it as 'the best burger I've ever had' which is quite a statement from a guy who avoids absolutes. Though he felt that the blue cheese was a bit intense by the end of his meal, he fully enjoyed it and has written me about craving the Spotted Pig burger since his return to San Francisco.

Char-grilled burger w/ Roquefort ($17)

My other friend, Christine, was not in love with her grilled cheese. She thought it was a perfectly fine sandwich but not anything to write home about. The mixture of Fontina, taleggio, and goat cheese on the inside while the bread itself was crusted with Parmesan cheese made this a hefty grilled cheese but the onion marmalade and mustard helped cut through the richness.

Parmesan crusted grilled cheese with onion marmalade and mustard ($16)

I got the Ricotta gnudi. After going to an event previewing the summer menu for the Little Owl, I have become obsessed with fresh ricotta cheese. Like the other two dishes we had at lunch that day, this was also VERY heavy. I ate a little more than half of my plate before Danny finished off the rest. Word of the wise, all male friends become a human food disposal for leftovers and they are more than happy to play their part.

Ricotta gnudi with brown butter and fried sage ($16)

But the best thing we had that lunch was not our main course. Liver has been another obsession of mine. Any restaurant menu I look at, if there is a pate or liver spread, it usually ends up on my table. So of course seeing the chicken liver toast on the menu, it was immediately ordered as our appetizer. This is the dish that keeps me coming back to The Spotted Pig time and time again. Their rich liver spread is velvety in texture and drizzled with the best olive oil. It is just the best and most luscious thing I've had the pleasure of eating.

Chicken liver toast ($6)