We all crave a good burger from time to time, and instead of the usual ground beef burger, make chef Anna Olson's beef kibbeh sliders with Canadian beef instead.
In her new series, Inspired, Olson shows you how easy it is to use Canadian beef in any street-food-inspired international cuisine. These sliders are better for you, and the spices are a welcomed departure from the typical ketchup and plain mayonnaise flavour combination.
"It’s a fun recipe to play with because we think of sliders as ground beef, but when you make [these], you have bulgur wheat to give it texture--so that’s another Canadian add-in to it--and then what I do with the beef is I dont’ grind it, I do what is called emincée," explains Olson.
"When you cut it across the grain and then work it with the bulgur, it actually breaks down so it ends up being like ground beef, but you don't need to grind it. They're really steak-y and you add all those spices, and you put that on a mini pita with the harissa mayo on top for a little sparkle... Mmm!"
Harissa is also one of Olson's favourite spices to work with at the moment, so try it out for yourself.
Kibbeh
Place the bulgur in a bowl, cover with the cold water and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain the bulgur well and put this into a large mixing bowl.
Trim away any silver skin from the beef and cut into slices with the grain about ½-inch (1.25 cm) thick. Lay this on a plate, cover with plastic and place in the freezer for 5 to10 minutes (this makes them easier to slice). Slice the beef now across the grain as thinly as possible (this is called emincée) and add to the bulgur. Add the mint, salt, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, pepper and egg and use clean hands to really mix this well, until well-blended and it holds together when squeezed. Use a large ice cream scoop or divide the mixture into 12 portions and firmly shape them into a ball (meatball-sized)and then flatten to a mini patty. Place these on a plate and chill until ready to cook, or cook right away.
Heat a heavy-bottomed or non-stick skillet on medium high heat and add the oil. Drop in the kibbeh patties in the pan, leaving a little space between them and then reduce the heat to medium. Cook the patties for about 4 minutes on each side, and keep warm until ready to serve.
Harissa mayo
In a bowl, stir the mayonnaise, lemon juice and harissa together.
Assembly
To assemble, split the mini pitas in half, place a kibbeh patty on one half and top with mayo, a few cucumber and radish slices and top with other half of the pita. Serve immediately.
- Yield:
- 12 sliders
- Prep Time:
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time:
- 8 minutes
