Little Owl's Meatball Sliders

In the September 2007 issue of Bon Appetit they have a section devoted to Small Restaurants, Big Ideas. One of the first recipes they feature is the Meatball Sliders from the Little Owl in the West Village. You can find the recipe here on Epicurious’ website.

I first learned about Chef Joey Campanaro via the NYC foodie blogs like Gothamist, Eater and Grub Street and even saw him participate in a food network special, which he won, dealing with turkey for an "alternative" take on Thanksgiving.
His restaurant, The Little Owl, is a huge hit in NYC.
This recipe seemed pretty straight forward and easy, so I decided to make it for one of our Sunday evening dinners. Instead of the arugula it calls for, I substituted baby spinach lightly dressed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly as described except of course for the onions in the sauce. I also ran out of fresh parsley for the meatballs this time around.
What I really like about this recipe, aside from the fact that it is pretty easy to make, is the addition of fennel seeds to the tomato sauce,. It really adds a different layer of flavor to the sauce. If I were to make any changes to this I would probably rub a freshly cut garlic clove over the cut rolls after bringing them out from the broiler. BTW the rolls are just some basic yeasty dinner rolls I bought at Wal- Mart, very tasty surprisingly.I would have to say that this recipe is a must add to anyone’s collection. It could be an appetizer, a hearty meal or a perfect tailgating dish for a late October, early November LSU football game.

Oh and if anyone has noticed the quality of the pictures improving, I’l have to credit some killer tips from Matt over at Matt Bites and my lovely wife Ann whose hobby is photography as well.

  http://chickenfriedgourmet.com/little-owls-meatball-sliders/

Saturdays with Rachael Ray – Club Burger Sliders with Avocado-Ranch Dressing

  This hamburger is like a club sandwich turned burger. If you love club sandwiches, and you love burgers, I’ll guarantee you’ll love this!
Recipe Notes:

• the recipe calls for “good-quality” bread. I would definitely follow that. That was my biggest mistake on this recipe – using cheap bread. I don’t normally buy the cheapest store brand bread, but for some reason, for this recipe I did. It totally fell apart when we ate these little burgers. I’m sure it would have been a lot less messy if I would have spent the extra 50 cents to upgrade the bread!
• this recipe makes way more of the dressing than you will need. But it is great as a veggie dip or chip dip. It wasn’t bad to have extra, in my opinion!!
• Both my husband and I thought that the flavor of the bacon was a bit lost inside of the burger. Next time, I’d just fry it up and serve it on top instead of in the burger.

Club Burger Sliders with Avocado-Ranch Dressing
from Everyday with Rachael Ray Jun/Jul 2010
makes 8 sliders, or 4 servings
total time: about 30 minutes
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 pounds ground turkey
1 small onion
1 tablespoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
salt and pepper
1 avocado
1 cup sour cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
a small handful of fresh chives, finely chopped
a small handful of fresh dill, finely chopped
a small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
16 slices good-quality white or whole wheat bread
lettuce leaves, for serving
2 plum or vine-ripened tomatoes, thinly sliced
Preheat an outdoor grill or griddle pan to medium high. Place a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of EVOO and the bacon to the pan and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels to cool, then chop.
While the bacon cooks, place the turkey in a large bowl. Grate the onion on top of the turkey to get 3 to 4 tablespoons onion juice. Add the hot sauce, poultry seasoning, salt and lots of pepper. Add the cooked bacon, mix and form 8 slider patties, about 2 1/2 to 3 inches wide. Drizzle with EVOO to coat lightly. Cook on the grill or griddle, turning once, until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
While the sliders cook, preheat the broiler. Place the avocado in a food processor. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, chives, dill and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Process into a smooth, thick sauce.
Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of bread (or trim 1 inch of crust all the way around the bread slices to form small squares); discard the crusts.* Arrange the bread on a baking sheet and toast under the broiler. Serve the bacon-turkey sliders with the lettuce, tomatoes and avocado-ranch sauce between the toasts.
*TIP – stick the extra bread in a zip top bag and throw it in the freezer. Next time you need breadcrumbs, pull the bag out, process the bread in a food processor, and you have fresh breadcrumbs!

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Saturdays with Rachael Ray rules:

• You can link any blog post, present or past, as long as it is a Rachael Ray recipe.
• Your blog post must link back to this post, mentioning Saturdays with Rachael Ray.

That’s it!! Simple, simple. Just make sure the recipe is a Rachael Ray recipe – it doesn’t matter if it comes from her talk show, 30-Minute Meals, her magazine, or one of her cookbooks. But it must be from Rachael Ray. Any posts that don’t follow these two rules will be deleted from the Mr. Linky.
I can’t wait to see what you’ve made!  http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2010/06/saturdays-with-rachael-ray-club-burger-sliders-with-avocado-ranch-dressing/