lamb sliders with a sweet 'n spicy red pepper relish

these little guys were sooooooo good..like ahamazing good.. i saw on triple d this recipe here.. and knew i wanted to make something like it.. about once or twice a month pete's parents come over for "happy hour" at our house.. i make up appetizers and we sit and chat.. even though they only live a few miles away finding time to see them doesn't always work out.. they came over last month and we had oysters, smoked salmon, pickled herring.. (yes i took pictures but then decided to save you all the funkyness that it was, you see i let pete pick out the food that happy hour..) well this time it was my turn to pick up the apps.. so i went to smiths again and walked the dreaded olive bar.. you might remember my last 15.00 adventure with the olive bar.. that tale told here.. i really tried not to get suckered in and for the most part i think i did ok.. i got marinated mozzarella balls, spicy olive and veggie mix and roasted garlic.. i then got salami, pepperoni and horseradish cheese (talk about spicy and yum augh so good).. i got flavored olive oil for dipping and made mini bruschetta, my recipe for regular bruschetta can be found here.. and last but not least we had these mini lamb sliders topped with a spicy sweet red pepper relish.. simply devine.. seriously a wonderful way to spend a lazy sunday afternoon.. sipping on wine (in my case beer) and noshing on little cute apps.. lovely..

sweet and spicy red pepper relish

1 red pepper,diced small
1 jalapeno, diced small
1/4 of an onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves minced
olive oil
1 tblsp. cider vinegar
1 tblsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. dry mustard


lamb slider:

1 lb. ground beef 80/20
1 lb. ground lamb (pete said next time he wants 1.5 lbs of lamb and only .5 lb of ground beef)
1 small red pepper, diced
5 mint leaves, chopped
1/4 of an onio, diced
1/4 tsp. each of the following spices allspice, coriander, ground cumin and black pepper
pinch of cayenne

slider buns
olive oil

for relish: cook the pepper, onion and garlic in a small sauce pot over medium heat until soft..about 2 minutes or so..  add vinegar, sugar and mustard... lower heat and cook until all the ingredients are cooked down and become thick enough to top the burgers.. about 15 minutes..

for the sliders:  mix beef, lamb, bell peppers, mint, onion and spices...form into slider patties you can get about 16 of them..cook burgers to your liking in a skillet or grill.. i did used my grill and cooked them over medium low heat.. it took about 10-15 minutes.. i then took my buns brushed them with olive oil and toasted them on the grill too for a few seconds.. remove the buns then added the slider then top with a little sweet n spicy relish.. talk about flavorful!! really good.. if you haven't cooked with ground lamb before this is perfect recipe to start with.. now get to cook'in!!