Tater Tot Hot Dish

I finally did it, I made Tater Tot Hot Dish for the blog.  While not the most glamourous of dishes, I mean I'm not expecting you to serve this on your fine China, it is tastier than "all get out." Yeah, that quote is from Mr. Schwartz.  What can I say, we are from Minnesota so I have got to represent.  

Although there are quite a few varieties of this dish this is mine.  Slightly adapted from my mom's recipe.  My secret: two, yes two, cans of "cream of something" soup.  It adds an extra creaminess.  Whip up a big o' batch of this and you can pretend that you are hanging out with us, in Minnesota.  Probably where you would like to be about now considering the high is a whopping 16 today.  It gets better ... -15 below wind chills tonight.  Thank God for leftovers.  

Start by chopping up a medium onion

Toss it in a pan with a bit of canola oil.  Let this sauté for a bit until the onions start to become translucent. 

Add a pound of ground beef.

Brown it up.

Add a bag of frozen veggies.  We like the green beans, corn, carrots and peas version.

Give it a quick stir

Add two cans of cream of something soup.  I used one can of low fat cream of chicken and one can of low fat cream of celery.  Cream of mushroom would work too…any combination of the three.

Stir that in as well.

Add a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce. 

And a dash of Kitchen Bouquet.  This is completely optional but adds a richness that can't be beat.  It also makes the sauce a darker brown.  Be careful as you can go from perfect savory brown to black real quick.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and pour the mixture into the dish.

Spread out evenly and top with the tater tots.

Midwestern Food Art.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour or until hot and bubbly. 

 Deeelish.  It's hard to make Tater Tot Hotdish look pretty but I tried my best.

It's tasty, I swear. 

Tater Tot Hotdish

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 pound ground beef 

1 16 oz bag of your favorite frozen vegetables 

2 cans cream of chicken, mushroom or celery soup

A few shakes of Worcestershire Sauce 

A dash of Kitchen Bouquet

approximately 50 tater tots 

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. 

Preheat a large skillet on medium high heat.  Drizzle in the canola oil and add the onion.  Sauté the onions until they start to become translucent. 

Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink.  Once the meat is cooked, add the soups, veggies, worcestershire sauce and Kitchen Bouquet.  Stir until completely combined.  

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and pour the mixture into the dish.  Spread out evenly and top with tater tots.  

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until bubbly and hot throughout.  

Enjoy! 

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz 

Pizza Burgers

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  Can you believe we have to be at work today--I'm assuming you are at work if you are reading this because if you are not, you should be outside sucking down a cold beer.  I'm just sayin'.  If you are at work--holler.  Me too.  

Anywho, guess what will make you feel better?  Pizza Burgers.  No no, not those weird pizza stuffed burgers, but wonderful, cheesy saucy goodness pizza burgers.  These are a creation of my mom and we had them all.the.time.  Mainly because my one and only brother, Jeff, loved the shiz out of them.  They are by far his favorite of anything I think ever.  While we were eating these the other night Mr. Schwartz said to me, "Babe, do you think anyone loves Pizza Burgers more than your brother?"  My reply, "No, absolutely not. No way. Never."  I don't blame him.  These things are awesome.  Give them  try and they will soon become a staple in your house.  

Start by dumping a bunch of onion in a frying pan with a drizzle of canola/olive oil.  These as you can see, were frozen.  If I use part of a huge onion, I always freeze the remainder if I know I won't use the remaining onion in the next few days.  It save me some chopping the other night.

Brown up some ground beef with it.  Make sure to season with salt and pepper.

Dump in a can of tomato soup.  Betcha didn't see that coming.

I little bit a water.

And pizza seasoning. I do this to taste--we like flavorful burgers so I put in at least a tablespoon.  Put in as much as you would like but note that the spices develop as it simmers.  Speaking of simmering--let this mixture do that for a while.

Now, these are some steps I have added and they are not 100% necessary if you are in a pinch.  That being said, they add some awesome flavor.  So, if you would like, spread a little butter on each English Muffin.  Hand Model: Mr. Schwartz.

Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt on each of the muffins.  Sprinkle you hear me, not dump like in this picture.  I totally scraped a bunch of that off--bigger camera=harder to do two things at once.

Add four slices of pepperoni to each muffin--also a Mrs. Schwartz's addition.  Not needed but totally awesome. Pop these in the oven under the broiler for about 2 minutes but watch them so they don't burn, just brown, no burning.

Like so.

Spoon the ground beef mixture on to each English muffin.

Top with mozzarella cheese

Lots of it. Then into the broiler it goes again until the tops are golden brown and bubbly.

Yep, heaven on a plate.

I'm telling you, these are the best.

This one is for you Jeff.

Pizza Burgers


1 medium onion, chopped
Drizzle of canola/vegetable/olive oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1/4 cup (or so) water
1 tablespoon (or so--give or take your taste) pizza or Italian seasoning
4 English muffins, split into 8
3 tablespoons (or so) butter
1 tablespoon garlic salt
32 pepperoni slices
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Start by adding the onions and a drizzle of oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Heat through.  Add the ground beef and cook all the way through.  Once the meat is cooked, add the tomato soup, water and pizza seasoning.  Reduce to low and let simmer.

While the meat and sauce are simmering, preheat the oven on broil and spread the butter evenly on each
English muffin half.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and top each with 4 slices of pepperoni.  Pop these under the broiler on a cookie sheet for about 2 minutes or until they begin to brown just on the edges.

Take out of the oven and top each English muffin with about 1/4 cup of the meat and sauce mixture.  Top each of those with the cheese.  Place back under the broiler for another 2-3 minutes or until the cheese turns golden brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: My Momma.