Tater Tot Hotdish....You Betcha!

How is it that after 22 years in Minnesota, I have never made Tater Tot Hotdish? A serious travesty, to be sure! Truth be told, I had never even eaten Tater Tot Hotdish, but don't tell anyone or I might be sent packing back to Wisconsin. It dawned on me that perhaps I should give this dish, ubiquitous in Minnesota, some consideration. Not sure what "hotdish" is? Check out the definition. There is Minnesota written all over it. :) 

I'm not overly fond of canned soup...so I made my own Cream of Mushroom.

Apparently, there are as many different ways of making a Tater Tot Hotdish as there are Minnesotans that make it. With cheese, without cheese, with vegetables, without vegetables, ground beef, ground turkey, or ground soy---it's all acceptable. One thing is certain, though--an authentic Tater Tot Hotdish has got to have cream of something soup and Tater Tots.

I began my Tater Tot Hotdish quest by looking it up on the Internet. At the top of the heap was a recipe from our own Senator Amy Klobuchar. It turns out that in 2010, Senator Al Franken invited members of Minnesota's congressional delegation to a hotdish competition. Amy Klobuchar's Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish won the honors. I drew some of the inspiration for my recipe from her creation. You've gotta love something with Taconite in the title, no?

Amy Klobuchar's version had Pepper Jack Cheese, so I upped the ante by using not only the cheese, but also by using a little cayenne pepper in the soup. 

Last weekend, we experienced some cool weather for the first time in many weeks. It was a perfect time for experimenting with my very own Tater Tot Hotdish. After some initial concern (the dish seemed to weigh 20 pounds when it went into the oven), we managed to finish and appreciate my efforts. The husband even gave it the thumbs up. 

Tater Tot Hotdish

Printable Recipe

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz frozen French green beans, or enough to cover the bottom of a casserole dish

1 lb. ground chuck, cooked, crumbled, and drained

1 cup shredded Pepper Jack Cheese

1/2 ( 2 lb.) bag Tater Tots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; spray the bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onions and saute until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and continue to cook for a minute or two (mixture will be very stiff). Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Add the cayenne pepper and the salt. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until the soup is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.*

Spread the green beans evenly over the bottom of the casserole dish. Top the beans with the cooked ground chuck. Evenly pour the soup over the ground chuck, then sprinkle the cheese over the soup. Top the entire mixture with the Tater Tots. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbling and the tots are crisp.

*While it is my opinion that the homemade variety of the Cream of Mushroom Soup is a thousand times better than the canned version, you are free to sub a can of the cream soup of your choice. Simply mix in 1/2 cup of milk before you pour it over the ground beef.

So, there it is. My first Tater Tot Hotdish. Not bad, not bad at all. This is going to happen again, when the weather turns blustery. What comfort food do you make when it gets cold?

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

2013 Winner Best Recipe Ever!
Read the story on the Daily Dish

How is it that a gal who isn't all that fond of banana bread keeps posting banana bread recipes? Blame the banana bread obsessed husband of said gal. Luckily, (or not, if you consider my expanding waistline) I've become quite fond of these different varieties.

The idea for this particular flavor hit me as I was buying my coffee at the corner convenience store. I spied the bite-sized peanut butter cups at the check-out. Oh, I know they aren't new. In fact, I've used them in cookies. But how would they be in banana bread? I bought two snack-sized bags.

A quick Google search showed that they've been put into banana bread already....but not my banana bread....

Unfortunately, there really weren't enough of the peanut butter cups in those snack bags for my recipe, but I improvised and chopped up a bar of dark chocolate to add to the batter. It was a good choice. The recipe is written with just the peanut butter cups. Feel free to add the dark chocolate, if you like.

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

Printable Recipe

3 cups all purpose flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 very ripe large bananas, slightly mashed (about 3 cups)

½ cup peanut butter

1 (6 oz) container plain or vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt, or 1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

¼ cup coconut or canola oil

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups bite-sized peanut butter cups, or chopped peanut butter cups (try Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups)
1 (3 oz) bar premium dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F.; spray two 9”X5” loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 ¾ cups flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the bananas, peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended, about 2 minutes. Spoon the flour mixture into the banana mixture and beat on low speed until just blended. Toss the peanut butter cups in the remaining ¼ cup flour and stir into the batter. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

 

Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Next time I may add some white chocolate to the bread. What would you add?

Peaches and Cream Muffins

A few weeks ago, I went in on a crate of peaches with a couple of co-workers. I had high hopes for those peaches. Yes, I was going to make peach pie, peach bread, peach salsa...everything peach. So, what happened? Well, I attempted a peach pie. I'm not much of a recipe follower, so I tossed some things together and baked the pie at too high of a temperature. The result wasn't awful, but it wasn't blog worthy, either. I had lost my peach Mojo. Luckily, the peaches were very tasty on their own, for I resigned myself to save any peach recipes until next summer.

Fast forward to last Friday. I was in a local grocery store when the smell of fresh peaches lured me over to a huge pile of the Colorado variety. What beauties! I simply couldn't resist buying a few....

Incredibly, a bag of flour, some butter, and an egg, magically appeared next to a couple of my fresh peaches.  I felt my Mojo coming back. Forget pie...I was making muffins.

Peaches and Cream Muffins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup brown sugar, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 ripe, but firm peaches, peeled and diced, about 2 cups

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 3/4 cups of the flour, the baking powder, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, the salt, cardamom and cinnamon; set aside.

Toss the diced peaches with the remaining 1/4 cup flour. Mix the cream, egg, butter and vanilla together in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add the peaches and the cream mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed...batter will be lumpy...don't over mix.

With a cookie scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the batter. Bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. 

I didn't dice the peaches too small--I was afraid of a gloppy mess.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to find some apple Mojo.