PW Wednesdays ~ Mushroom Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce

Round two of PW Wednesdays. This week Megan chose our recipe. I was excited to make sliders for the first time. This week’s episode of The Pioneer Woman on Food Network was a repeat but just happened to have sliders featured, it was meant to be! Or maybe that’s where my downfall started.

You see… it all started out dandy. I prepared by writing everything out in reduced quantities and little notes to myself. This way I wouldn’t accidentally put double the amount of seasoning for half the amount of meat. It’s something I do frequently, the writing and preparing ahead… not the unintended doubling of seasoning.

I prepped my veggies… and some extra for added color and flavor to the final product.

I prepped my sauce.

And the meat. So far so good.

Oh wait… yeah. This was there it started to go downhill. The original recipe calls for 12 sliders with 2 1/2lb of meat. I was using half that and even made a note, underlined twice(!!) to make 6 burgers. Back to the PW episode – Ree made sliders and used a large cookie scoop to keep them all evenly sized. Brilliant! So I did that, but then I didn’t have 6 sliders and didn’t realize it until after they were all made and at that point I didn’t want to go back and remake them. I thought, no problem. Now I had 12 and they looked like the perfect size!

The mushroom sauce wasn’t a problem. Easy peasy.

Now came the big part, cooking the mini burgers. Melt some butter and cook for a few minutes on each side. Easy, right? Wrong! We’re still adjusting to our new oven so I blame that and not the recipe because in the end I didn’t have a problem. But, there was a casualty. First round of mini burgers burnt because the heat was too high apparently and poor OXO spatula RIP. I’ve never had this happen before. Crazy. It’s an excuse to go shopping for some new kitchen gadgets though.

Had to cool the pan a bit and lower the temp… from here on out it was mostly smooth sailing. Promise.

After some adjustments and a learning curve these ended up being rather delicious. Juicy pan fried beef sliders topped off with a warm mushroom mixture, melted swiss cheese and a spicy fry sauce. The sauce gives the burger a perfect kick. Add additional toppings for flavor and color as desired. Serve with your favorite baked onion rings.

My notes:
-Prepare all of your ingredients ahead. Read the recipe two, maybe three times before starting.

-While I love the cookie scoop tip for evenly sized burgers, for this… a large scoop is too small since the meat shrinks while it cooks. Even my slider rolls needed some trimming. Do make 6-12 burgers depending on if you make a half or full batch. The size will fit most slider buns a bit better.

-If you don’t have wine for the mushroom mixture, use broth. I had beef broth on hand and it worked just fine.

-Cook over medium to medium/low heat for best results. In the future I would actually prefer to grill these… keep the mess outside and off of my stovetop.

-Use a small spoon or small cookie scoop to add the mushroom mixture to your burgers.

-Cover the pan (or close the grill) after adding the cheese. I stood there for a minute waiting for the cheese to melt with little results. Once I topped off the pan, the cheese melted like a dream!

-Add your favorite additional toppings.

-Most of all… don’t be discouraged when your first attempt fails… with any recipe. We’ve all had adventures in the kitchen and are only two recipes in. I hope the next few recipes prove a bit less troublesome… but just as delicious (if not more!) :)

Check out the other PW Wednesday posts:
Table For Two Blog
My Life As A Mrs
Running To The Kitchen

Stop by Megan’s for the complete recipe:
Wanna Be A Country Cleaver

If you missed week 1 of PW Wednesdays, check it out: Fried Chicken Tacos

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19 Responses to “PW Wednesdays ~ Mushroom Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce”

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    1
    Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen — April 18, 2012 at 6:14 am

    It’s 6am and I want onion rings. I blame you. :) Seriously love the sound of these sliders though.

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    Julie @ Table for Two — April 18, 2012 at 7:47 am

    love this! despite the kitchen mishaps, yours turned out delicious looking & who doesn’t want an excuse to go kitchen gadget shopping?! i’ll tag along ;) now…those onion rings….i’m eyeing those!

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    3
    Aimee @ ShugarySweets — April 18, 2012 at 7:54 am

    These would be great for breakfast, right? Right? RIGHT????? Oh, how good they look!

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    Gina @ Running to the Kitchen — April 18, 2012 at 8:52 am

    I wanted some fries or onion rings with these so badly but just didn’t have the time or patience to make them. Kinda jealous of those perfectly crispy looking things on your plate!
    RIP Oxo spatula…I can attest to your wonders. (hope you make a BB&B trip real soon to replace that one!)

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    Brenda (Kookt!) — April 18, 2012 at 8:55 am

    What a great idea that a few bloggers make the same recipe! Love to see how you all got your own style and that the pictures are diffrent. I will defenitly follow the rest of your PW Wednesday serie!

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    Megan {Country Cleaver} — April 18, 2012 at 9:35 am

    You are a saint for not throwing in the towel at the demise of your spatula. If my OXO went to pieces I would have cried on the spot! And those baked onion rings slay me. Oh so tasty!

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    Rachel Cooks (formerly Not Rachael Ray) — April 18, 2012 at 9:38 am

    Oh no! Your poor spatula, lol!

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    Cassie — April 18, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Great notes on this, Rachel! I always make mistakes like this too…all the time. And I have my eye on this recipe so I’m glad to read about your experience!

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    Catalina @ Cake with Love — April 18, 2012 at 10:16 am

    I love sliders they look so cute, and the onion rings on the side seem to be so crunchy and delicious!

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    amy @ fearless homemaker — April 18, 2012 at 11:09 am

    despite the couple little mishaps, it still looks like these turned out great!

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    Tracey — April 18, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    That happened to one of my spatulas not too long ago too. So sad! These sliders look delish, and I totally agree with you about keeping the burger mess outside on the grill. Definitely my preferred method!

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    Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts — April 18, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Frying burgers in butter? Um, YES!!!

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    Elina (Healthy and Sane) — April 18, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    I only make sliders for parties – I think it’s time to make some for dinner. They are so much cuter anyway :)

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    tina — April 18, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    awww poor spatula!!!! sounds like a shopping trip is in order to get a new one! ;) the oven rings look YUMMY.

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    15
    Meghan — April 18, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    Despite your mishaps, they look awesome! I’m really loving the look of those onion rings! They might have to happen soon. Your poor spatula… Casualties of cooking are always a good excuse to go shopping :)

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    nicole @ I am a Honey Bee — April 18, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    if you try it outside just be careful about flipping them. I tried sliders on the grill once and was not that careful about that & lost a few in the grate. live and learn

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    Danae (The Busty Baker) — April 19, 2012 at 11:27 am

    You’re killing me with the PW posts! So far, both recipes have been the one’s I’ve been drooling over since I got the book. I still haven’t had a chance to make them yet though! I’m totally doing this one though, because I LOVE sliders. And RIP spatula. I’ve been there. I melted an Ikea scraper once because I didn’t realize it wasn’t silicone and used it to stir dinner in the pan. Oops.

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    amanda @ fake ginger — April 20, 2012 at 12:41 am

    Mmm, I love mushrooms on burgers! Why wasn’t I invited over for dinner?!

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    Joan Drewing — November 5, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    there are so many kitchen gadgets too choose from today. i always choose the ones that makes my task automatic.

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