Emergency Slider Stew
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
  • Cooking Time: 75 minutes
  • Servings: 8
  • Preparation Time: 30 minutes
  • 48 "slider type" hamburgers, cooked (small burgers, usually grilled with onions)
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • 3 garlic gloves, minced
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup full bodied red wine
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 4 medium boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
DIRECTIONS
  1. Remove slider patties from buns. Cut slider patties into bite size pieces, and set aside. Reserve buns for serving.
  2. Heat oil in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
  3. Add onions to oil and cook 4-5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and continue to cook for 30 seconds.
  4. Stir in flour and cook until lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine, scraping up any brown bits that may have stuck to the pot.
  5. Add stock, bay leaves, thyme, and bring to a simmer.
  6. Add slider pieces, potatoes and carrots. Simmer for 1 hour.
  7. Remove from heat. Stir in parsley, discard bay leaves. Adjust seasonings as desired.
  8. Serve in bowls over the slider buns.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
My mother's beef stew was legendary! So good, that our family required her to make it every Christmas. As Mom got older, her memory declined, and sadly she faded into dementia and Alzheimer's. This story illustrates how one person's failing memory can result in a much-remembered family memory and a new family tradition. A few years ago, we were all to gather at Mom's for Christmas. She was to make her beef stew, of course. Mom was in her late 80's. It was late on Christmas day. Upon our arrival, we were to help Mom make the stew. She had most of the ingredients ready. However, she had forgotten to buy the stew meat! The grocery stores had closed early, and there was nowhere to get stew meat. So, we improvised, using the only beef available to us: beef patty "sliders" from a local 24 hour burger joint! The stew was a hit! So, every year since, we make Emergency Slider Stew each Christmas, and remember a time when a new family tradition was born.