Hotdish
Hotdish is a variety of baked casserole that typically contains a starch, a meat or other protein, and a canned and/ or frozen vegetable, mixed together with canned soup.[1] The dish is popular in Minnesota. According to Howard Mohr, author of How to Talk Minnesotan, hotdish is, "A traditional main course, hotdish is cooked and served hot in a single baking dish and commonly appears at family reunions and church suppers."[2] The most typical meat for many years has been ground beef, and cream of mushroom remains the favorite canned soup. In past years a pasta was the most frequently-used starch, however tater tots and local wild rice have now become very popular as well.[3]
Hotdishes are filling, convenient, easy to make, and well-suited for family reunions, funerals, church suppers, and potlucks where they may be paired with potato salad, coleslaw, jello salads and desserts, and pan-baked cookies known as bars.[1][4][5]
The history of the hotdish goes back to when “budget-minded farm wives needed to feed their own families, as well as congregations in the basements of the first Minnesota churches.”[1]
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[edit] Ingredients
Typical ingredients in hotdish are potatoes or pasta, ground beef, green beans, and corn, with canned soup added as a binder, flavoring and sauce. Potatoes may be in the form of tater tots, hash browns, potato chips, or shoe string potatoes. The dish is usually seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, and it may be eaten with ketchup as a condiment. Another popular hotdish is made with Kraft macaroni and cheese or plain noodles, canned tuna, peas, and mushroom soup.[6] Also common is a dish known as goulash, though it bears no resemblance to the familiar Hungarian goulash. Minnesota goulash is usually made with ground beef, macaroni, canned tomatoes, and perhaps a can of creamed corn.
Cream of mushroom soup is so ubiquitous in hotdish that it is often referred to in such recipes as “Lutheran Binder,” referring to hotdish’s position as a staple of Lutheran church cookbooks. The soup is considered a defining ingredient by some commentators.[7]
[edit] Popular culture
Hotdish frequently appears, along with other stereotypical Minnesotan dishes such as lutefisk, in the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. Hotdish is also described in Howard Mohr’s book How to Talk Minnesotan.[7] 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.[8]
After the 2010 U.S. midterm elections, Senator Al Franken invited the members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to a friendly hotdish-making competition, to come together in celebration of the state before the beginning of the legislative session. Six out of 10 delegation members – Sens. Franken and Amy Klobuchar and Representatives Michele Bachmann, Tim Walz, Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum – participated, with Klobuchar taking first place with her "Taconite Tater Tot Hotdish" and Walz taking second with his "Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Hotdish".[9]
[edit] See also
- Comfort food
- Funeral potatoes
- Green bean casserole
- Midwestern cuisine
- Rappie pie
- Timballo
- Tuna casserole
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Harron, Hallie. (February 1996) "Heating up the heartland: Minnesota's signature hotdish combines heartiness, great taste and adaptability - includes recipes." Vegetarian Times.
- ^ http://www.hotdishhoedown.com/faq.html
- ^ http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=903956
- ^ Fertig, Judith M. (1999) Prairie Home Cooking. Boston: Havard Common Press p. 373.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=rWSpAJc0G64C&pg=PA4&dq=dessert+bar+minnesota&hl=en#v=onepage&q=dessert%20bar%20minnesota&f=false
- ^ Compare tuna casserole.
- ^ a b Mohr, H. (1987). How to Talk Minnesotan. New York: Penguin Books.
- ^ Dennis, Pat. (1999). Hotdish to Die For. Minneapolis: Penury.
- ^ "Klobuchar wins congressional hot dish competition". KARE 11. http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=903956. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
