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 

Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole

Today we (in Minnesota) are having a bit of a cold snap.  By that I mean it is supposed to get to a high of 61 degrees.  Hells yeah.  Wasn't it just last week that we were in the 90's?  Yes, yes it was.  Welcome to weird Minnesota.  

With this cold snap the only thing I can think of is soup, bread, pasta and HOT DISH!  Some of you out there might call it casserole but up here in Minnesota, anything with cram of whatever soup is hot dish baby!  I found this recipe via Pinterest (weird) and I think it will become a regular on our rotation. 

As all good casseroles do, it beings with a bit of onion sauteed in a drizzle of canola oil.

Add some celery

And cooked turkey.  I roasted a turkey breast myself for this dish.  I know, unheard of right?  It was actually really easy and I will show you sometime.  For now, let's keep moving.

Add two boxes of wild rice mix

And give it a good stir.

Remove the mixture from the pan into a large bowl...if you don't have enough room in the pan.

Add the seasoning packets from the rice

Two cans of cream of whatever you have on hand soup.  I used cream of chicken but cream of mushroom or cream of celery would be awesome too.

Add a bit of sour cream

Parmesan cheese

And as you can see here I added chicken stalk.  After trying this recipe I think it would be better to add milk.

Miz it up

And pour it into a baking dish.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Give it a stir and serve

You know me, I like to add a bit of parsley on the top of things...it looks prettier.

Deeeelightful.

I may or may not have made this on the 90 degree day.  I'm pretty sure it was my Fall rain dance.  You.are.welcome.

Turkey and Wild Rice Casserole

drizzle of canola or vegetable oil
1 Medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, cubed
2 6 oz boxes wild rice mix (with the seasoning packets)
2 cans cream of chicken, celery, or mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, drizzle the oil and add the onions and celery.  Let these cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the turkey or chicken and rice.  If you have enough room in the skillet add the seasoning packets, soup, sour cream, parmesan cheese and milk.  If you don't have enough room just combine everything in a large bowl.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Add the mixture to the pan and put in the oven for about 40 minutes.  At 40 minutes, take a fork and test the rice.  If it is done take it out.  If it still needs a little time pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes.  If at 40 minutes it looks dry, add a splash of milk, stir and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: Here