White Castle “Sliders”

I live in Arizona. In Arizona the only White Castles available are in the frozen food section of the grocery stores… and they SUCK. Since there are no White Castle restaurants here, the only alternative is to make them yourself. But White Castles have a unique flavor unto themselves. Unlike others “sliders”, White Castles have a certain savory-ness and uniony-ness about them. One of the many memories about growing up is the sacks upon sacks of these wonderful, greasy, bombers being brought home by our dad to feed us six chow hounds, and it was something we loved.

My brother George, upon getting his drivers license asked dad if he could drive out and pick up dinner, “I‘ll even buy!”. Dad wasn’t about to pass up that offer, and he assumed George meant he would drive into Muncie (about 5 miles). Instead, George drove 50+ mile and brought home White Castles two hours later. Dad was furious. Of course, George  just wanted to drive his car. He thought bringing home White Castles would redeem himself…he was wrong. His car was taken away.

Here’s how to make em’:

Meat Mix

1lb 80/20 hamburger

1 six ounce tube of Braunschwagger cubed.

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

2 tspn black pepper

2 eggs

¼ cup dehydrated onions – RE-hydrated in a bowl with water and set aside.

Toss the cubed braunschwagger into a food processor with a couple tblspns water and puree to a thick pudding. Transfer it to your mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. (EXCEPT the re-hydrated onions)  Mix thoroughly with your hands. (I use surgical gloves).

Cover your cookie sheet in foil and sprayed with Pam. Take this meat mixture and spread it out EVENLY and very thinly over the entire sheet, edge to edge. Evenly sprinkle the re-hydrated onions over the top and put into a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

When done, remove from oven and set on the counter top at a slight angle. This will allow the grease to drain to one edge. Using a turkey baster, suck up and save this grease in a bowl.

You’ll notice the meat has shrunk into the center of the cookie sheet. Using a pizza cutter, cut the meat into a checker board pattern, you know: tiny squares like a White Castle. Now, evenly redistribute them on the same cookie sheet. On top of each patty put a squirt of spicy brown mustard and 2 – 3 dill pickle slices. And if you like the cheeseburger version (which I do) now’s the time to and a half a slice.

(You should have 18 – 24 square patties)

The bun: Dinner rolls work good but they are expensive and you need to horizontally cut a thin center piece from them (they’re too thick). EASIER and MUCH cheaper (and a more traditional taste too!) is hot dog buns cut in half. Not the crappy hot dog buns, but the medium priced decent buns. Cut them all in half. Using a brush, coat each bun with a small amount of the grease… yeah, I said it: Brush on a bit of grease… JUST DO IT. (I never claimed this was healthy food, it’s comfort food! If you’re looking for health food recipes, you are definitely at the wrong blog site!) Adjust your patty size cutting to roughly match the size of these bun halves. The finished burger won’t be square like the original, but you’ll get over that once you’ve taken the first bite!

Stack the two bun halves on top of each patty. From bottom to top it should be: Meat, cheese, toppings, top bun half, bottom bun half. Now, spay a nice generous mist of water over all set ups. Loosely cover with foil and back into the oven for 10 – 15 minutes.

Uncover and put the top bun on the bottom and you’ve got a White Castle! My sister Marty says they are even better than the originals, which to me, is like winning a culinary Oscar!

I am always asked to bring these babies to all the parties my wife and I get invited to. One such party, I was approached by a new friend and his fiancée. Seriously: they were misty eyed. They too were White Castle fanatics from Chicago and they begged me for the recipe. I was more than happy to share it with them. I later found out that they had their caterer make 500 of them for their reception!

Here’s a master list of all the things you’ll need:

1lb 80/20 hamburger

1 six ounce tube of Braunschwagger cubed.

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

2 tspn black pepper

2 eggs

¼ cup dehydrated onions (found in the spice section of your grocery)

Spicy Brown Mustard

1 jar dill pickle slices

Sliced American cheese (optional)

2 bags medium quality hot dog buns

Cookie sheet 12” X 17”

Foil

Spray Bottle of water

Turkey Baster

Basting Brush

Pizza Cutter

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