Prime Rib Slider Recipe

Haley.Henry’s prime rib slider is my first (successful) inspired recreation.

With a lack of eating out prospects at the moment due to our national lockdown, I am reminiscing and re-viewing the restaurants we visited in Boston and as I mentioned in “A review of the best Boston restaurants”, I am currently inspired to cook some of our favourite dishes at home. I cannot guarantee success in my attempts, or actually that what I make will even be edible, but try I will.

I’ve already attempted the Johnny cake from Neptune (we’ve now named the Jackie-cake). However, while edible and actually quite nice, it did not hit the spot. My pancake making skills may need some addressing. I am not deterred and will persevere with perfecting the recipe. Once mastered I will share so you too can enjoy some of our travels from your dining room table.

Why the Prime Rib Slider?

Onto the Prime Rib Slider and a definite success story. What was it we liked about the Haley.Henry version? The succulent meat, the sweet onion jam and the perfectly toasted bun. In order to obtain the first ingredient, we popped to our local butcher and purchased a prime rib of beef. One rib was 3 pounds in weight. Perhaps a tad too much for a couple of sliders? Instead, round one was a beautiful New Year’s Day Prime rib roast dinner….leftovers, the prime rib slider.

Firstly, what is a slider?

A slider is a well-known staple in the USA and is basically a mini burger. But why the name?

A little research on-line and I’ve found a couple of explanations. The thing that came up a few times is that the word slider came from sailors in the US Navy in the 1940’s/50’s. They would call a small burger a ‘slider’ because of its greasiness and in one or two bites it would ‘slide’ right down. The grease is mentioned a few times. While I’m not a fan of ‘greasy’ food, I have no problems adding a little butter to help things ‘slide’ down and create a more authentic experience.

Ingredients

Method

Serves 2 – we opted for “full size” as it was for lunch. We’re not into mini when it comes to food.

1 large or 2 small onions, cut in half and then sliced.
1½ Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp dry rosemary
1 bay leaf
60g sugar (I used caster)
5 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Left over prime rib beef (or roast beef would work too) thinly sliced. Enough for 2 generously filled rolls.
Butter
2 soft seeded rolls

Make the onion jam. It’s a little time consuming as patience is needed for the sugar to caramelise, but it can be made in advance and in quantity (goes well with cheese and biscuits).

Place the oil in a frying pan and put on a medium high heat. Add the onions, bay leaf and rosemary and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and a golden colour. About 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to low. Sprinkle the sugar over the onions and cook. DO NOT STIR or the sugar may crystallise. Cook until the sugar melts, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high and continue cooking (again, don’t be tempted to stir!) until a golden brown caramel forms. About 5 more minutes.
Stir in the balsamic and simmer over a low heat for about 5 minutes until it’s thickened (this part may make your eyes water initially).
Take off the heat, remove the bay leaf and allow to cool to a warm temperature, ready for the slider.

To assemble the slider

Put the grill on high and lightly toast both sides of the rolls. While still hot, squash each side down with a spatula and then slather on a bit of butter (trust me, not margarine…butter is better).
While the rolls are toasting heat a little knob of butter in a small frying pan and over a medium low heat lightly warm the beef for a couple of minutes while tossing in the butter.
Add a generous amount of onion jam to the bottom of the roll and top with a “man-portion” of prime rib of beef. Words cannot describe the sheer pleasure of every mouthful of this savoury sweet and totally unctuous “giant” slider. Mmm.

Rocking Chair Fuel

Prime Rib Slider

Why the Prime Rib Slider?

Firstly, what is a slider?