White Manna Jr. ... :)

So between Scott sending me this list this week with an idea for our upcoming trip (our destination is one of those 25:) andddddd wistfully remembering our trip to White Manna on Valentines weekend LAST year (while busily planning THIS year's...mwahhahhha!:), I knew burgers HAD to be on the menu for Friday night:)  And since a trip up the NJ turnpike to the burger mecca wasn't soundin too ideal, we thought we'd try the next best thing:  Homemade Sliders!

(Another good "Superbowl food" too, folks!)

There are a few key factors in making the perfect sliders at home....

#1-Preheat a cast iron skillet for 10 minutes before adding the meat.  It should sizzle when it hits the pan...

#2-Make sure to cover them with diced onions BEFORE you flip the burgers, so the onions will "steam" into the sliders when you flip them: 

(ps-your house will smell pretty IDENTICAL to walking into White Manna at this point:)

And #3- you MUST steam the rolls along with the burgers:) 

After you flip the burgers, top them with cheese and BOTH halves of the bun and let them all steam together for 2-3 minutes.  You can add a few tablespoons of beef broth (or water) to create even MORE steam.

The rolls are UBER important here, folks!  They don't have to be mini, but they MUST be potato!  They get that super soft steamed taste that just makes the burger:) 

PER-FEC-TION!

The ONLY change we might have made was adding a little Worcestershire to the meat to give it a little smokey taste, but these had the that perfect grilled onion/steamed roll slider taste....YUMMMMMMMM!

Along with the sliders, our side dish came from trying to use up this quarter bag of hash browns that had been rollin around our freezer for months:)

We started by sauteing a diced onion and leeks in the pan until soft.  Next went in the hash browns and you toss those around for about 10-15 minutes, or until they pick up color.  And Finally (the Very Important Part)....top the 'browns with some diced cheese..... 

Give the browns another toss and allow the cheese to melt...creating lovely little pockets of cheese in the mix..... 

Oh yeahhhhhhhh:)

Everything was Just SOO. GOOD!  I even had to sneak in and grab one more slider...those babies were just superb:)

And since I had already had my dessert by way of a white chocolate drizzled brownie at the chili cook off yesterday afternoon (which my boss won!:), I thought I'd show you the dessert I picked up for Scott at Whole Foods yesterday (more on my 'Whole Foods finds' later!)  How cute is this??? 

Malt powder has been one of our favorite ice cream toppings since our introduction to it courtesy of Franklin Fountain's MOUNT VESUVIUS:), so I knew he'd be thrilled with this flavor:)

Plus, we heart Philly:) 

Ok, Ok....I had to grab a spoonful to try it too:)  This stuff was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.  Oh man, it was the best chocolate chip ice cream I've had since our visit to Hoffman's!  HUGE chocolate chunks topped with an EXTRA punch of VANILLA from the malt... 

I already can't wait to have my very own little cup tonight! :) hahahahhahahaha....

Alright, well I should get started on my day:)  I hope you guys have a great Saturday!  I'll be preppin a few things for the big game tomorrow:)  Should be good:)  ...stay tuned....