Hotdish!
February 1, 2014 1:14 PM   Subscribe

Starting in 2011, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) has hosted a Minnesota delegation Hotdish competition - a friendly bipartisan and bicameral competition for all of the Minnesota congressional delegates.

The 2011 competition was won by U.S Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

The 2012 competition was a tie between Sen. Franken and US Rep Chip Cravaack (R-MN).

The 2013 competition was won by US Rep Tim Walz (D-MN). You can download a PDF book of the 2013 recipes here.

Links contain descriptions and pictures from the events, including recipes.
posted by bibliogrrl (37 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
That's a lot of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup.
posted by Fnarf at 1:26 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


one hotdish to rule them all
and in the bathroom bind them
one tater-tot slice to feed them all
and covered in cheese why not then
posted by The Whelk at 1:27 PM on February 1, 2014 [25 favorites]


"D-MN" seems like excessive bowdlerization
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:31 PM on February 1, 2014 [21 favorites]


Walz's Hermann the German Hotdish

Ingredients:
1 package of brats
1 bottle Schell's beer
1 onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup of chopped celery
1 can cream of cheddar soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 package tater tots.


Never has a murder weapon been so delicious.
posted by munchingzombie at 1:35 PM on February 1, 2014 [12 favorites]


Wow, Bachmann likes the spicy. I may try to vegetarianize her Southwest Metro Hotdish recipe, if that isn't a violation of God's law.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:41 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


(Her Minnesota Oktoberfeast looks good too, I think I've found the one area where I agree with her on things)
posted by Drinky Die at 1:45 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


Walz's Hermann the German Hotdish

I want to believe this is named for Fred Grandy's character in _Death Race 2000_.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:54 PM on February 1, 2014 [4 favorites]


Wow, Bachmann likes the spicy. I may try to vegetarianize her Southwest Metro Hotdish recipe, if that isn't a violation of God's law.

I like to imagine that, if you did this and then threw the resulting dish at her, she she would melt away crying "Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness?"
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:57 PM on February 1, 2014 [7 favorites]


Hotdish is one of the ways you can tell we are not as homogenized as people say. If you are from the Midwest, hotdish means yum and more yum. If you are from pretty much anywhere else, it means mushy casserolesque dishes, basically the entree equivalent of congealed salad
posted by Dip Flash at 2:11 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


Quick Tip: If you don't like mushrooms (I DON'T), use Cream of Broccoli (it makes green beans greener)... If you don't like broccoli (you're too fussy), use Cream of Celery but add double the French Fried Onions...
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:19 PM on February 1, 2014


The Internet has EVERYTHING.
posted by Kitteh at 2:21 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


3 tablespoons of Minnesota Nice

It kind of sounds like a line from a porn film, actually.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:38 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


GenjiandProust: "3 tablespoons of Minnesota Nice

It kind of sounds like a line from a porn film, actually.
"

It's the name of my fantasy rockabilly band.
posted by dismas at 2:55 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


Should anyone tell them about Greasy Honky Pie? I believe that could be the Terminator recipe to the competition, because creating a "tomb" of super crispy tater tots is genius.
posted by jadepearl at 2:57 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


As contentious as Franken can be for Conservatives he does have a long history of actually talking to people on "the other side". Was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio this last week and they where talking about how their two Senators never talk to one another about anything, which is surely a product of just how different they are (Ron Johnson/ Tammy Baldwin) but also seems borderline criminal, and most certainly a shame. If Al Franken and Michelle Bachmann can grit their teeth and spend a few hours in each others company then any two politicians sure could do the same.
posted by edgeways at 3:23 PM on February 1, 2014 [11 favorites]


The hotdish staples in my house were the "goulash", but the tomato sauce had an extra 1/2 cup of sugar mixed in (UGGGH!), and a lot mac and cheese, tuna, and peas in a dish with a topping of those fried onions in a can. Adding tater tots has to be a 90s thing that's stuck around, though Walz's hotdish sounds pretty good!
posted by droplet at 4:06 PM on February 1, 2014


If you are from the Midwest, hotdish means yum and more yum. If you are from pretty much anywhere else, it means mushy casserolesque dishes, basically the entree equivalent of congealed salad.

not to the mormons! while most do horrific things to jello for the potluck, some mormon wives have learned amazing tricks with pyrex and breadcrumbs. i'd like to think i pitched the religion and kept the cooking skills. i do have one hell of a pyrex collection and there are 4 different cream of soups in my pantry right this second.

i will admit that my yankee husband always looks at me suspiciously when i start off any dinner plan with "ok, i'm going to cook some rice and mix it with cream of whatever..." and yet, he's nearly always impressed. tater tot casserole was a giant success (he is strictly opposed to mac&cheese&tuna&peas, though).
posted by nadawi at 4:26 PM on February 1, 2014 [5 favorites]


Bring a pot of water to a boil, add
beer, onions and garlic powder. Submerge
the brats into the pot and reduce
heat to medium and cook for 10 min.


My instincts about cooking tell me that this makes no sense. Do the beer, onions and garlic powder impart any flavour at all? You're boiling something with a lot of its own flavour (and which has a casing) in slightly oniony/beer-y water. Seems like a waste

How about poking some holes in the sausage and poaching it in beer and onions, and leave out the garlic powder because that stuff is gross.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 4:40 PM on February 1, 2014


hal_c_on: "one stick butter
ten cloves of garlic
"

This almost makes me wish I still worked for Congress.

Almost.
posted by schmod at 4:58 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


That Oktoberfeast hotdish does sound good. If I serve people dinner and then reveal that we've been eating a Michelle Bachman recipe, would that make me a bad person?
posted by Area Man at 4:58 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


I made cauliflower pie last night in an attempt to convince myself I was eating something healthy. Looking at these recipes, I realize just how bad for me it was. And yet it is nothing compared to these. And now I want to make a hotdish.

You people are horrible for me.
posted by Hactar at 5:26 PM on February 1, 2014 [4 favorites]


I've lived in Minnesota for about 2 and a half years now and all of those hotdishes still sound disgusting to me.
posted by gyc at 6:01 PM on February 1, 2014


They don't even sound like food to me.
posted by sweet mister at 6:06 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


they sound like the casseroles that i grew up eating.
posted by PinkMoose at 6:18 PM on February 1, 2014


Damn, I can food snob with the best - but even I have to admit that any genre of food that uses biscuits, dorite, tater tots and cheese as ingredients kind of has a place in my cholesterol-ridden heart.
posted by Space Kitty at 6:25 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


If I serve people dinner and then reveal that we've been eating a Michelle Bachman recipe, would that make me a bad person?

Nah. She totally ripped it off from some church cookbook anyway, or maybe the back of a General Mills package.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:03 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


I always wondered what hotdish was. Now I find out it's what my mom made.

This thread is making me hungry. And I have no cream-of-anything soup in my kitchen.
posted by bunderful at 7:26 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hotdish is an example of Minnesotan practicality: it can be used to insulate both your stomach and your home.
posted by holgate at 8:18 PM on February 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


That's a lot of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup.

It's so ubiquitous in hotdish that Garrison Keillor calls it "Lutheran binder."
posted by jonp72 at 8:44 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


In Texas, we make hotdish with tortillas and call it King Ranch Chicken. It is part of my core spirituality, giving me some fair reason to believe that g*d exists.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:12 PM on February 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hotdish is an integral element of the book Hotdish to Die For, a collection of six culinary mystery short stories in which the weapon of choice is hotdish.

I present this fact without comment.
posted by Sebmojo at 10:18 PM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Rep. Ellison's Minnesota Meat on Your Bones Shepherd’s Pie
posted by mikelieman at 6:16 AM on February 2, 2014


3 tablespoons of Minnesota Nice

At my bridal shower (it was insisted that I have one) each guest contributed a recipe in a fancy recipe box. One was for "Marriage Cake," and the ingredients were things like, "A pound of love, three cups of patience," etc. etc. One ingredient was "A cup of faith."

I leaned over and pointed it out to my uncle (one of the coolest people on earth) and said, "That's a shame, I'm fresh out."

Without missing a beat he said, "No problem, you can borrow one from the neighbors."

And THAT is my metaphorical-recipe story. Enjoy.
posted by BrashTech at 10:13 AM on February 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


Is there anything like hotdish in Scandanavian home cooking? I'm curious about the history of this culinary innovation.
posted by monotreme at 12:42 PM on February 2, 2014


I'd be surprised. It seems like it has its roots in dishes like the mushroom soup/green bean casserole, which was a post-war invention by a soup company. Maybe it stayed popular enough in Minnesota that they gave it a name?
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 1:09 PM on February 2, 2014


Pruitt-Igoe: " How about poking some holes in the sausage and poaching it in beer and onions, and leave out the garlic powder because that stuff is gross."

Garlic powder is just granulated garlic. It's not a substitute for fresh garlic, but it's a useful thing in its own right.

(We're garlic fiends and tend to make garlic bread with both freshly-grated garlic and garlic powder. On the rare occasions we're organized enough, roasted garlic too.)
posted by Lexica at 5:53 PM on February 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


I know what it's made of, but to me garlic powder is only good for making things taste like garlic powder. It has a funk that doesn't exist in fresh and roasted garlic. People abuse it by throwing it directly on chex mix and eating it uncooked. Even if it does have a place in the kitchen (high-heat applications, flours, spice rubs), I've struck out with it so many times that I don't bother using it anymore.

I guess to me it's like grapes vs. raisins. A raisin is just a dried grape, but really has a completely different flavour.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 9:58 PM on February 2, 2014


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