Tailgate Party

Before moving to New York, I lived in Indianapolis, where I got my engineering degree and also worked as an engineer at General Motors.  People in Indiana love their sports and take them very seriously.  But they also love tailgating before the start of the games.  I was never into sports, but found tailgating to be a lot of fun.  There was a particular restaurant about 45 minutes outside of Indianapolis, which was quite hard to get a reservation.  The tradition was that you drove up early enough, put your name down on their list and while waited for your table, you tailgated in the parking lot.  NOW, that's a kind of "sport" I like :)  This was my very first AND only tailgating experience and I loved it.

With the Super Bowl being so close - especially now that the Giants are playing - I thought it was only appropriate to dedicate this post to this event and have a tailgate-style party at home.  The idea of sliders is just so interesting to me.  Did they make a come-back or did I make a discovery?  Because everywhere I look, I see sliders on the menu!  I think they are great.  I noticed that our local burger joint even offers them on their adult menu - you get three mini burgers with the bells and whistles and they are absolutely delicious.  I also like how they fit so nicely in my hands AND they make me feel like I am eating less!  I decided why not turn a Persian dish into sliders?

So, I prepared a tomato-based beef stew "Khoresht / خورشت" which you can create several variations by adding different kind of fried vegetables (such as, zucchini, eggplant, okra and etc. to create a different dish).  There are also other styles of Khoresht that are not tomato-based.   Khoresht is traditionally served over steamed white rice.  In this case, I obviously skipped the rice part to create a Persian Bite.

Persian Beef Sliders

Ingredients:
1 lb of beef stew meat
1 medium onion - finely diced
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 oz of tomato paste (1/2 of a 6 oz can)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup of sour grapes* or 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon saffron powder
2 1/2 cups of water

In a medium pot, heat the oil and sauté the onions over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until they are slightly golden - stirring occasionally.  Pepper your meat and then add the beef chunks and brown them on all sides over high heat.  Add the turmeric and lower the heat to medium.  Mix well until the meat and onion are coated.  Add the tomato paste and mix well.  Add water and mix well.  Put the lid on and bring to a boil.  Add salt and then let it simmer for about 2 hours over low heat with the lid on until the beef chunks are fork-tender.  Add the sour grapes and saffron powder and mix.  Let it simmer for another 30 minutes.  Turn heat off and let it cool for a little.  Fork the meat before placing it over the slider buns. 

To add a little texture, you can sauté zucchinis - cut thin lengthwise - and place them over the forked beef on the sliders.

Yummy Sliders

I believe this recipe will go really well with the Persian coleslaw from our May 5th post.

*Note: Sour grapes are unripe grapes that have a sour flavor.  They are seasonal and you will be able to find them at the middle eastern specialty stores.  You can substitute by adding Sour Grape Juice (also available at middle eastern specialty sores and available all-year around).  Add 1 tablespoon at a time to get the desired tangy flavor.

Happy tailgating and enjoy your sliders!