Beet Sliders With Homemade Slider/Burger Buns

Saturday was a washout. It started off with a drizzle steadily progressing to an incessant pour.Around noon I saw signs of the rain slowing down which made me to fervently hope that the Sun god would show mercy and send at-least a ray of sunshine for me to shoot pictures of my mouth-watering sliders.Then a thick blanket of fog settled down on my town.While some would think it romantic, an ideal scenario for cuddling or chilling with the family in front of the TV with a cup of Chai Tea + Crispy snacks, I think of it as an ominous presence where some kind of evil lurks. Fog, at night or day gives me the creeps! So noon came with hubby and little A badgering me to give them some food.I had to keep them away from the food, especially my hubby,like swatting a fly with my bare hands.Shoo, shoo be off. Thirty minutes later with the family getting annoyed,impatient I decided to take a chance and placed these beauties at the brightest spot I could find in house and clicked away. It was also fortunate that the Sun decided to peek out from behind the gray clouds before ducking back for the day. So what do you think?
Little A wanted to go to the park this weekend. His dad had promised him and that was the foremost thing on his mind. By Sunday noon(today) he got impatient and asked if the rain will go away if he sings "Rain Rain Go away song". He He.. Is that an innocent question or sarcasm? Are 3-yr olds even capable of being sarcastic? Pondering.
So this post winds up the fourth edition of "7 days of Blogging Marathon". Thanks to Ms.SriValli Jetti for starting this exciting event. If you are new my space, this is what I posted for in the past 6 days:

• Day1: Rice and Ragi String Hoppers
• Day2: Spiced Apple and Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes
• Day3: Stuffed Lacey Crepes
• Day4: Cabbage, Onion and Black Lentil "Doughnut" Fritters
• Day5: Mini Fried Idlis with Peas and Peppers
• Day6: Zebra Cake

Ingredients:
For the Sliders(Adapted from here):

• 1-1/4 Cup Whole Milk
• 3 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 4 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
• 2-1/4 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 6 Tbsp Butter, Melted
• 1/2Tsp Salt
• Little Oil for coating the dough

For the Beet Patties/Cakes (Makes 18 Slider-sized patties):

• 2 Medium Beet, Peeled and Grated
• 3 Medium Yukon Gold Potatoes, boiled till fork tender and finely smashed
• 1 Small Sweet Potato, boiled till fork tender and finely smashed
• 4 Stale Whole Wheat Bread, toasted and crumbed in a blender
• 1 Small Yellow Onion, finely chopped
• 3 Hot Cherry Peppers in Pickling Brine ( I used B& G brand) or more/less, chopped and seeds discarded
• 2 Small Garlic Cloves, Peeled and minced
• 1/4 Tsp Cracked Pepper or more
• 1/4 Cup Cilantro, finely chopped
• Salt for taste
• 3 Tbsp of Oil

For Assembling the Sliders:

• Mix of Spring Greens
• 18 thin slices of tomatoes
• 18 Tooth-picks
• Kettle cooked Potato Chips

Procedure:

• Scald the milk in a sauce pan. When its slightly warm, add the sugar and yeast. Stir to incorporate and let it sit undisturbed in a warm spot for 10-15 minutes. The mixture would have frothed indicating the yeast is alive.

• Add the flour, salt and melted butter and knead to a smooth dough for 8-10 minutes.
• Coat the dough with a tsp of oil and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Let it rest for an hour.

• Punch down the dough that has almost doubled in size. Divide the dough into 18 even balls.

• To make slider buns: Keep the left palm firm and flat. Place a ball of dough on the left palm and cup it on the top with the right palm. Roll the dough till a smooth ball is formed that has a flat bottom and a domed top. Place it in a greased baking pan/sheet and repeat the same for the remaining balls. Let it rest for 45 minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the baking sheet on the top rack and bake for 15 minutes till the tops are brown in color.Let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.




• Meanwhile mix the grated beets, smashed potato and sweet potato, chopped onions, minced garlic cloves, crumbed bread, cracked pepper and salt. Mix it until they are all incorporated.

• Add the chopped cilantro at the end and gently combine.

• Form the mixture into 18 patties.

• Cook them on a wide pan with a tbsp of oil for 2 minutes per side.

• Gently move them to a plate to slightly cool.
• For Assembling the Sliders: Cut open the Slider Buns and place some greens, beet patties and top with tomato slices. Cover with the top of  the bun and insert a tooth pick.
• Serve immediately with a side of chips.

Makes 18 Beet Sliders.

Check out the Blogging Marathoners doing (Group 3) BM#4 along with me-
Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Sriv

Enjoy!